punishment is death by hanging--for a woman, it is life imprisonment. The apostate should be given three chances to repent and convert back to Islam. Biography Nadarkhani is from Rasht, Gilan Province, in Iran. He originally had no known religion, however Nadarkhani said that he converted to Christianity as a child having never practised Islam. However, court documents claim that he converted at age 19. Prior to his arrest, he was the pastor of a network of Christian house churches. He is a member of the Protestant evangelical Church of Iran. He is married to Fatemeh Pasandideh, and they have two sons, ages 9 and 7. Initial arrest Nadarkhani was first taken into custody in December 2006, on the charges of apostasy from Islam and evangelism to Muslims. He was released two weeks later, without being charged. In 2009, Nadarkhani discovered a recent change in Iranian educational policy that required all students, including his children, to take a course in Quran study in school. After he heard about this change, he went to the school and protested, based on the fact that the Iranian constitution guarantees the freedom to practice religion. His protest was reported to the police, who arrested him and brought him before a court on 12 October 2009, on charges of protesting. On 18 June 2010 Nadarkhani's wife was arrested and charged with apostasy. She was sentenced to life imprisonment, and placed in prison in Lakan, Iran, which is just south of their hometown of Rasht. She was released in October 2010., after serving four months in prison. Death sentence The charges against Nadarkhani were later changed to apostasy and evangelism, the same charges he was initially arrested under in 2006. On 21–22 September 2010, Nadarkhani appeared before the 11th Chamber of The Assize Court of the province of Gilan and received a death sentence for the charge of apostasy. Nadarkhani's lawyer, Nasser Sarbaz, claims there were numerous procedural errors during Nadarkhani's trial. After conviction, Nadarkhani was transferred to a prison for political prisoners, and denied all access to his family and attorney. The delivery of Nadarkhani's written verdict was delayed by Iran's security officials. Iranian officials seemed reluctant to execute Nadarkhani, and kept delaying his sentence. They also gave him several opportunities to convert back to Islam. On 13 November 2010, the verdict for the trial of 21–22 September was finally delivered in writing, indicating that