A Christian convert and former prisoner of conscience has reportedly been sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison.

According to the Persian-language Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Ghazal Marzban, who is a Catholic, has been sentenced to nine years and eight months on charges including “propaganda against the state” and “gathering and collusion against national security”.

The sentence was handed down by notorious Revolutionary Court judge Iman Afshari, who was recently sanctioned by the EU and has been behind the harsh sentencing of many political prisoners, including Christians.

Ghazal, who spent two months in Evin Prison in 2024 after being convicted of “propaganda against the regime by chanting slogans”, was rearrested in January at her home in Tehran.

Her Bible and other Christian literature were confiscated, and she was then taken away to an unknown location, with no explanation given for her rearrest.

Two hours later, Ghazal called home to tell her husband she was being held in a Ministry of Intelligence detention centre, but for the next month she was incommunicado.

According to Article18’s sources, Ghazal was pressured during interrogations to admit that her Bible and other Christian literature had been used for evangelical purposes, but Ghazal denied this, saying they had been for personal use only and that, as a Christian, she had the right to possess them.

Ghazal’s rearrest came days after the massacre of thousands of protesters, including at least 22 Christians.

Ghazal was first arrested in November 2024, after protesting against the harassment she had endured since converting to Catholicism seven years prior.

After her conversion, the Islamic law graduate was prevented from taking her bar examination and pressured to leave the country, while her husband, a fellow convert, has been unable to access the medication he requires to manage his Parkinson’s disease.

Article18’s executive director, Mansour Borji, said that due to her husband’s condition, Ghazal’s sentencing was in reality “a sentence for both of them”.