Christian convert Abdul Rahman was arrested for apostasy in February and tried in March. Hundreds of clerics called for the death penalty, but Abdul was acquitted a month later when his trial expired.
Mariam, Maria (daughters)
Abdul Rahman is an Afghanistani convert from Islam to Christianity. In 2006, this fact alone was enough to put him on trial with a possible sentence to death in what would have been, at the time, the first real apostasy trial in the country (under the post-Taliban U.S.-backed government).
Born in Afghanistan, Abdul was a Muslim by birth. However, later in life, he moved out of the country, and, working with a Christian organization providing help to Afghan refugees, converted to Christianity. Though he kept this knowledge secret from his family, when he moved back to Afghanistan, he told them—more than ten years after his change of faith. This sent them into shock and dismay. Reportedly, they ended up telling the police about it, and when the police arrived to question Abdul, he did not deny it.
Thus, in March 2006, Abdul was arrested and detained while a case against him was prepared.
"We will cut him into little pieces." - Hosnia Wafayosofi, jailer
As it happened, Abdul was saved by a stroke of luck. Though his family, his neighbors, and the authorities were all resounding in their belief that Abdul’s abandonment of Islam was unacceptable and must be met with death, Afghan law stipulated that a person could only be held without charges for a month. Prosecutors could not build up a case in time. On this basis and under pressure from the United States, Abdul was released from custody, whereafter he accepted an offer of asylum in Italy.
Afghan Convert to Christianity Is Released, Officials Say - New York Times
Afghanistan: Christian Convert Faces Execution - Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Afghan man faces death after leaving Islam for Christianity - Chicago Tribune
Prior to August 2021, Afghanistan was an Islamic republic, with blasphemy and apostasy theoretically punishable by death. However, a limited degree of secularism existed, including permissions for the listening of music and for girls to attend school. With the resurgence of the Taliban and the reestablishment of their "Islamic emirate," these embers of secularism are slated to be snuffed out in a government with absolutely no religion-state separation. Blasphemy, apostasy, and a host of other "un-Islamic" behaviors are likely to be punished with death, more frequently and more brutally than under the previous U.S.-backed government.