The law, which will now be referred to committee for final drafting and possible amendment, mandates the death penalty for male adult Muslims who convert to another faith. Women converts are to be jailed for life. Those who practice witchcraft will also be condemned to death.

The law’s reach extends beyond the borders of Iran, and gives the government the authority to enforce the death penalty on any Muslim anywhere in the world who leaves the faith. While Iranian Islamic law, or Sharia law, provides for the execution of converts, the “Islamic Penal Law” would see these sanctions added to the country’s civil laws.

Introduced by the government of Iranian President Mahmoud Amadinejad (pictured) in February, the legislation mandates the death penalty, removing judicial discretion in the sentencing of converts. However, the law distinguishes between types of apostates.

Innate apostates, the sons of Muslim parents, who make an adult profession of Islam, and then leave the faith, are covered by Article 225-7, which states “punishment for an innate apostate is death.”

Parental apostates, the sons of non-Muslims parents, who make an adult profession of Islam, and then leave the faith, are covered by Article 225-8, which states the apostate has three days to recant. If they refuse to return to Islam, “the death penalty would be carried out.”

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) reports that coverage of the vote by the Iranian press was slim. “The few Iranian media outlets that covered the issue played down their reports, while on others, such as the Majlis website and the website of the conservative daily Resalat, the reports were removed after a few hours,” MEMRI reported on Sept 15.

"It is troubling that Iran is moving ahead with a code that has so many dangerous provisions," said Joseph Grieboski, president of the Washington think-tank Institute on Religion and Public Policy. "If this law with its death penalty provisions finally passes, religious freedom in Iran — particularly for minorities — will go from worse to truly awful."



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