Aid workers on trial in Afghanistan expected to resume within days

The trial of the eight foreign aid workers in Afghanistan is expected to resume on Sunday when their lawyer will answer charges of evidence against them.

The eight, including two Australians, are facing a single charge of proselytisation -- a charge that could attract the death penalty.

The hearing may even be open to outside observers, as Jonathan Harley reports.

Atif Ali Khan , the Pakistani based lawyer representing Australian aid workers, Peter Bunch and Diana Thomas, and their six foreign colleagues, says the Taliban chief justice has told him relatives of the detainees, as well as diplomats and journalists are welcome to observe the trial. Noor Mohammed Saqib opened his court to outsiders for the first time nearly a month ago for the start of the trial of the eight foreigners on charges of preaching Christianity. But, when all foreigners were forced to leave Afghanistan in the wake of the September 11 attacks in the United States, there have been no outside observers at the trial. It's not clear if Taliban foreign ministry officials will honour the invitation made by the Chief Justice.

(5/10/01, 10:01:43 AEST)

Please remember to keep praying for Heather Mercer and Dayna Curry, two Christian American women who were in Afghanistan providing humanitarian aid; and for Australians Peter Bunch and Diana Thomas; and for Germans Georg Taubmann, Katrin Jelinek, Margrit Stebner, and Silke Durrkopf; and for the unidentified Afghan Christians under the same duress or worse. All these Christians need our prayers. The Taliban previously indicated foreigners would only face jail and expulsion, but they have since indicated these people could be executed. Remember and pray.
Heather Mercer	Dayna Curry	Peter Bunch Diana Thomas	Georg Taubmann Katrin Jelinek Margrit Stebner Silke Durrkopf
American Jailed in Afghanistan Accused of Sharing her Faith	American Jailed in Afghanistan Accused of Sharing her Faith	Australians Jailed in Afghanistan Accused of Sharing their Faith	Germans Jailed in Afghanistan Accused of Sharing their Faith
Search Google for Afghanistan AND ("aid workers" OR Mercer OR Curry OR Bunch OR Thomas OR Taubmann OR Jelinek OR Stebner OR Durrkopf) [English-only - 30 results returned per page] Some FreeRepublic Threads on the Jailed Christians (sorry, not comprehensive): Lawyer sees light Afghan sentence for Christians Dayna Curry: Personal journey of a prisoner in Afghanistan (great article) Aid workers in Afghan court. Judge promises fair trial according to Islamic justice. Kabul aid workers trial resumes Kabul (Christian) Aid Workers Trial Set To Resume Trial of eight foreign aid workers set to resume Saturday Foreign Aid Workers' Trial to Resume Detained Baptist Workers in Limbo Amid U.S.-Afghan Wrangling The Buzz: Heroic Americans, Worse for Aid Workers, more... Jailed Baylor grads' attorney trying to see them. Lawyer has visa to enter Afghanistan, but fleeing refugees clog path. Lawyer trying to see Afghan detained aid workers Release Our Women! (my title) Antioch pastor waits in Pakistan for release of women from Afghanistan Waco pastor fears for safety of ex-BU students held in Afghanistan Taliban May Sentence Christians To Death Heather Mercer & Dayna Curry left behind in Afghanistan UN Workers Leave Afghanistan

I will tuck them in my prayers.

I am thinking that the Taliban will conduct a real hearing, complete with lots of exposure to the outside with the hope of impressing the rest of the world with their fairness. LOL. They want to appear civilized to use this as a propaganda tool. (Civilized? Hardly. They are barely out of the jungle. Indeed, they are silly little sexually dysfunctional men who get a thrill out of demoralizing and abusing women and ordering their underlings around all under the name of Allah. They bring ultimate shame to the Muslim faith.) So just maybe, these wonderful soldiers for compassion will be set free.

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