KABUL, March 24: The chief judge trying the case of an Afghan man for converting from Islam to Christianity on Friday criticised international calls for his release, saying no one has the right to exert pressure on the court.

Australia’s Prime Minister John Howard on Friday joined the western leaders who have expressed outrage at the case, while in Kabul clerics condemned Abdul Rahman as an apostate who deserved to die.

Howard said he would protest personally to President Hamid Karzai. “This is appalling. When I saw the report about this I felt sick, literally,” Howard told an Australian radio network. —AP