"He must be forgiven"

These are the words of Moayuddin Baluch, a religious adviser to Afghan President Hamid Karzai. He's speaking of Abdul Rahman, a man on trial for rejecting Islam and converting to Christianity. He could be put to death for it, according to the laws of his country.

But Baluch isn't speaking as Rahman's advocate. He thinks the man should be pardoned only if he is "mentally unfit." Ironically (or maybe I just don't understand the way their advocacy groups work over there) the group that called for Rahman's initial punishment was the state-sponsored Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission.

Prosecutors said they would drop the charges if Rahman turns back to Islam, but so far he has refused.

"Forgiveness," it seems, doesn't translate across the religious board.