Maldives: Arrested Man "Reverts" to Islam -- After
Govt "Islamic Counseling" in Police Custody

Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)
http://www.realcourage.org/2010/06/maldives-reverts/

In the Maldives, Mohamed Nazim has announced his "reversion" to
Islam, after being taken into police custody after publicly announcing
that he was not a Muslim on May 28, 2010. As reported in our previous
posting "Maldives: Man Attacked, Threatened with Death, for Freedom of
Conscience," Mohamed Nazim had announced that he was not a Muslim at
a lecture by Zakir Naik (who widely calls for
the death penalty for "apostates"), and then was promptly taken into
police custody and given "counseling" by the Maldives government
Islamic Ministry. Mohamed Nazim made his public "reversion" to Islam at
the Maldives government Islamic Ministry before journalists invited by
the Islamic Ministry.

Mohamed Nazim was brought before Maldivian media to make a statement
to the press about his "reversion" to Islam, while the police are still
deciding whether or not to bring criminal charges against Mohamed Nazim
for choosing his freedom of conscience.

A Maldivian lawyer previously told the Maldives press that Mohamed
Nazim had to be given such
government "Islamic counseling" before capital punishment charges
were considered against Mohamed Nazim for "apostasy."

Haveeru
News stated that: "Mohamed Nazim, 38, repented and gave the
'Shahaadha' testimony before journalists at the Islamic Ministry Tuesday
with a public apology." It quoted
Mohamed Nazim as stating "And as that action was very much related
to the feelings of all Maldivians, I believe that it was an agony for
the Maldivian people. I deeply apologize for that to all the Maldivians.
Along with that, I would like to say that the major misconceptions I
had regarding Islam have been clarified. Therefore, I am now a Muslim. I
want Maldivians to accept me as a Maldivian and as a child of this
community."

: Maldives: While in Police Custody and Given
Government "Islamic Counseling," Mohamed Nazim "Reverts" to Islam

The
Maldives
Deputy Minister for Islamic Affairs Sheikh Mohamed Farooq told Haveeru
News that Mohamed Nazim reverted to Islam "on freewill" (while in
police custody).

The Minivan
News also reported on the "reversion" of Mohamed Nazim while in
police custody. The Minivan
News further reported that the Maldivian NGO the "Islamic
Foundation" leader Jammiyyathu Salaf Sheikh Abdulla Bin Mohamed stated
that there were "many people trying to introduce other religions to the
Maldives underground" and that he would "release the names of these
underground people at the appropriate time."

On May 13, 2010, the Maldives was
elected to be part of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

The Maldives
constitution mandates that all citizens of Maldives must be
Muslims. A December 2009 study showed the Maldives (with a 99 percent
literacy rate) to be in the
top 5 percent of the worst nations for religious freedom. It is a
nation that has been
building its criminal law based on Sharia law, and whose Parliament
bans non-Islamic houses of worship. There have been repeated reports
on Maldives government publicly whipping of
women and the Maldives is in the bottom
rankings of nations with a global gender gap.

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Responsible for Equality And
Liberty (R.E.A.L.) promotes freedom of religion and freedom of
conscience as our
unqualified, universal human rights. We challenge those who deny
such universal human rights, including
the right to change one's religion as defined in Article 18 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Article
18 of the UDHR reads: "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought,
conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his
religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community
with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or
belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance."