Mawlawi Noor Mohammed Saqib, the chief justice of the ruling Taliban regime, announced, «The trial began today, and we do not know how long it will last.»
The foreign volunteers — four Germans, two Americans and two Australians — as well as their Afghan colleagues of Shelter Now International, a nongovernmental organization, were arrested in early August.
The religion police said that the accused were found in possession of thousand of documents on Christianity in local languages.
Under current law, any Afghan who gives up his religion or tries to convert a fellow countryman can be condemned to death. For a similar offense, foreigners face a prison term and deportation.
