Abdul Rahman is on trial for his life. His crime is believing in Jesus. Like most Middle East countries, it is illegal to convert to Christianity. The punishment is death. This type of thing happens all the time in that part of the world. Normally, those that don’t recant their faith will be executed and have their children taken from them to be raised as Muslims.
What makes this case unique is that it is actually being covered in the mainstream media. Why? Because this is Afghanistan and the media is trying to show that President Bush is wrong for prosecuting the Global War on Terror. Their interest is embarrassing the President not advocating religious freedom.
Mr. Rahman is being offered a chance to avoid the trial if he can prove he is mentally incapacitated. It is unclear whether he actually has an opportunity for input in this decision or if the government will make such a declaration just to avoid the international embarrassment this has caused to the Afghan government.