More than a month after the Supreme Court of Nepal ordered Pastor Keshab Raj Acharya to serve one year in prison under a law against proselytizing, he seeks to convert the sentence into a fine.
He won’t be able to seek the change until March, though, and the Supreme Court on Jan. 23 ordered his prison term to begin.
“The fact is that the police can come any time and arrest me,” Pastor Acharya told Morning Star News. “But till they do, I am here, serving the Lord.”
RELATED: Check out more stories on the persecuted church here.
The Dolpa District court had sentenced Pastor Acharya to two years in prison and a fine of 20,000 rupees (US$167) for “outraging religious feelings” and “proselytizing” in November 2021. On July 13, 2022, the Jumla High Court reviewed and confirmed the pastor’s conviction for proselytism but reduced the punishment to one year of imprisonment.
With the support of Alliance Defending Freedom International, he appealed the ruling. After the Supreme Court refused to consider his appeal on Oct. 6 and upheld the High Court’s decision, Acharya has found he cannot challenge the rulings with Supreme Court as he had hoped.
‘No way to challenge’
“I was told that there is no provision of re-applying to the Supreme Court,” he said. “So, there is no way to challenge the High Court’s decision that the Supreme Court has upheld the last time.”
The High Court on July 13 reduced Acharya’s sentence from two years in prison and a fine of US$167, imposed by the Dolpa District Court, to one year and a fine of US$75.
Many lawyers have suggested Pastor Acharya approach the Dolpa District Court to convert his prison sentence into a fine, and that will be his next step, he said.
“The officials return in the month of March, and I plan to apply in that month,” Pastor Acharya said, requesting prayer.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written and originally published by Morning Star News.
