SAID MUSA

I have recently been exchanging letters with our MP John Baron regarding a man named Said Musa. Some of you know about his situation. Said is an Afghan convert from Islam to Christianity. In May 2010 he was arrested during a crackdown on converts because under Islamic religious law it is illegal to convert out of Islam. The penalty is death. Said was beaten, sexually abused and denied sleep.

Lawyers refused to defend him because Said refused to return to Islam. Letters were smuggled out of prison. Petitions were signed and letters written. Thankfully I am glad to say that Said was recently released in February 2011 after high level negotiations, but he has had to leave the country. Just before his release he was put under severe pressure to sign a statement saying he regretted his conversion to Christianity; Said refused. Last week I met with John Baron to discuss a similar case. Shoaib Assadulah is in prison in Afghanistan for giving a New Testament to a fellow Afghan.