Case closed: Converts’ house-church worship was not ‘action against national security’ 28 February 2022 News Clockwise from top-left: Mohammad Vafadar, Kamal Naamanian, Hossein Kadivar, Behnam Akhlaghi, Abdolreza (Matthias) Ali-Haghnejad, Shahrooz Eslamdoust, Khalil Dehghanpour, Babak Hosseinzadeh, and Mehdi Khatibi. Nine converts who spent a combined nearly 20 years in prison for “acting against national security” and “promoting Zionist Christianity” have been acquitted by a Tehran appeal court. The ruling by Branch 34 of the Tehran Court of Appeal, issued and communicated to the nine men today, comes after a Supreme Court judge ordered a review of their convictions in November. The converts were subsequently released, pending the outcome of the review, though one of them is already back in prison serving a separate sentence related to his faith and activities, and two others have been handed new charges. In their ruling, the appeal court judges, Seyed Ali Asghar Kamali and Akbar Johari, found there was “insufficient evidence” the men had acted against national security, referencing their lawyers’ explanation that they had only “worshipped in the house-church in accordance with the teachings of Christianity” and that Christians are taught to live in “obedience, submission and support of the authorities”. The judges also noted the legal principle of “interpreting any doubt in favour of the accused”, as well as quoting an Islamic saying that teaches that “it is better to make mistakes in pardoning and forgiveness than in punishment”. The ruling will be welcomed not only by the nine acquitted, but by all Christian converts across Iran, enabling them and their lawyers to use the same arguments in defence of their right to worship in house-churches. (Over the past decade, Christian converts in Iran have tended to worship together in private homes in what have become known as “house-churches” because they are no longer permitted to attend the churches of Iran’s ethnic Assyrian and Armenian Christians, whose right to worship is recognised in the constitution, but who have been banned in recent years from conducting services in the national language of Persian to further dissuade Muslim-born Iranians from attending.) The appeal court’s verdict backs up the November decision of the Supreme Court judge, who ruled that “merely preaching Christianity” in house-churches or even promoting what was pejoratively referred to as the “Evangelical Zionist sect” did not amount to acting against national security. However, the re-imprisonment in recent months of one of the nine men, as well as the new charges against the two others, shows there is no guarantee of consistency in future cases. Article18’s advocacy director, Mansour Borji, commented: “This ruling is unlike any other of its type that I have seen, as the judges have gone to considerable length to explain their verdict, listing nine different reasons based on the constitution, judicial principles, legal provisions and Islamic tradition. “These judges have now found that the initial ruling that caused some of these Christians to spend over two and a half years of their lives in prison was legally unjustifiable. Meanwhile, at least a dozen others, including one of the nine involved in this case, are still in prison or enforced internal exile following their own convictions on similar charges.” Background The nine men – Abdolreza (Matthias) Ali-Haghnejad, Shahrooz Eslamdoust, Behnam Akhlaghi, Babak Hosseinzadeh, Mehdi Khatibi, Khalil Dehghanpour, Hossein Kadivar, Kamal Naamanian and Mohammad Vafadar – were arrested during raids on their homes and house-churches in January and February 2019, and sentenced in October of that year. Five of the men had been in prison since July 2019, when they were unable to pay the high bail demanded from them after they insisted on being defended by their own lawyer. The other four began serving their sentences in June 2020.
Iran’s Vatican embassy angry at claim Catholic archbishop and nun denied visas 24 February 2022 News Fr Dominique Mathieu (www.ofmconv.net) and Sister Giuseppina Berti (EsfahanEmrooz/Reza Amini/Getty) The Iranian embassy to the Holy See has reacted angrily to an article on a Catholic website highlighting the challenges faced by Christians in Iran. In the article, published by AsiaNews on 16 February, Chaldean bishop Thomas Meram of Orumiyeh explained the “many difficulties” faced by the Catholic community in Iran, while it was also noted how the new Catholic archbishop, Fr Dominique Mathieu, had not been able to enter Iran despite his appointment by the Pope early last year, and how a long-serving Italian nun, 75-year-old Sister Giuseppina Berti, was also denied a renewal of her visa. In a strongly-worded statement, published in full by AsiaNews on 18 February, the Iranian embassy demanded a rebuttal of the “completely false and unfounded” article, claiming the archbishop had entered Iran on 12 November 2021 and “now devotes himself to his activities”, and that Sister Berti’s residence permit “was renewed and she continues to live in the house of her congregation without any difficulty”. The embassy added that the claims made in the AsiaNews article “harm the good bilateral relations between the Holy See and the Islamic Republic of Iran”; that Christians “continue to enjoy the religious freedom to carry out their activities, worship in their churches and devote themselves to their programmes in accordance with the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran”; and that Christians “also have their own representatives in the Islamic parliament”. AsiaNews, while publishing the rebuttal as requested, commented: “We are happy that Mgr Mathieu and Sister Berti are in Iran and able to carry out their ministry. “We are, however, surprised by the tone of the reaction to an article that – in its essential part and in its title – simply gave an account of the life of the Chaldean Catholic community in Iran, describing its activities and mentioning concerns that its small size makes evident to all. “We dare to think that the fate of the good bilateral relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Holy See has very little to do with an error in a paragraph of an article in AsiaNews.”
Four Christians unwell after suspected Covid-19 outbreak in Evin Prison 23 February 2022 News Left to right: Moslem Rahimi, Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh, Yousef Nadarkhani, and Saheb Fadaie. Four Christian prisoners of conscience in Tehran’s Evin Prison have fallen ill in recent days following a suspected Covid-19 outbreak within their ward. Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh, who is 60 years old, Yousef Nadarkhani, 44, Saheb Fadaie, 40, and Moslem Rahimi, 32, have not been tested for the virus but have all experienced symptoms, with Nasser’s especially severe though now improving. The four Christians are all in Hall 8 of Ward 8 of Evin Prison, which accommodates around 250 prisoners in total, including around 60 in Hall 8. No Covid safety measures, such as quarantining or tests, are being observed in the prison, though the majority of prisoners have now been vaccinated. There has long been criticism of a lack of medical care and sanitation in Iran’s prisons, including Evin, with prisoners showing Covid symptoms often left alone on their beds for days, before being sent to the prison doctor to receive a solitary painkiller and then sent back to bed. This lack of care was viewed by many as a contributing factor in the recent death of another prisoner of conscience, writer Baktash Abtin, who contracted Covid-19 in Evin but was not taken to a hospital for treatment until it was too late. A new wave of the virus in the country has led the head of the judiciary, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, to announce a mass furlough of prisoners in recent days, but none of the Christians have been offered this option, despite requesting it. Yousef Nadarkhani, who has been in prison without leave for nearly four years now, was recently rejected his first request for furlough, despite being eligible having served well over the necessary one-third of his six-year sentence for “acting against national security by propagating house-churches and promoting ‘Zionist’ Christianity”. Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh, who is serving a 10-year sentence on similar charges, was also rejected the chance of a furlough late last year, as well as having his request for parole rejected, though the Supreme Court recently finally agreed to review his case. Saheb Fadaie, who is serving the same sentence as his friend Yousef Nadarkhani, was granted 15 days’ leave in September 2021, but then cruelly denied an extension to that leave to be there for his daughter’s 15th birthday, despite being initially led to believe his request would be granted. “They were just playing games with me,” Saheb later reflected. The fourth Christian in Ward 8, Moslem Rahimi, is not yet eligible for a furlough, having only just begun his four-year prison sentence on almost identical charges to Yousef and Saheb’s. Article18 understands that the authorities in Evin have been attempting to keep quiet the Covid outbreak, while the inmates of Ward 8 are said to blame their prison warden for denying them the chance of a furlough, despite Ejei’s directive.
Anglican minister and family face imminent deportation back to Iran 18 February 2022 News An Anglican minister who fled Iran six years ago because of constant harassment by intelligence agents and multiple arrests has now been told he is to be deported back to Iran from his city of temporary residence in Turkey. Pastor Hekmat Salimi, who is 72 years old and severely disabled, his wife Mahindokht, 66, and their daughter Sama, 35, have been living as asylum-seekers in Zonguldak, five hours’ drive east of Istanbul, since 2016 but were told last week they must leave the country within seven days or face forcible deportation. Pastor Salimi, who converted to Christianity in his home city of Shiraz in the year of the Islamic revolution of 1979, is the former minister of St Paul’s Anglican Church in Isfahan, one of just four remaining Persian-language churches in Iran, but now used only for special occasions such as weddings or Christmas. And Pastor Salimi explained in a recent interview with Article18 that it was his reopening and refurbishment of this church back in 2009, after it had been closed for 30 years, that led to renewed pressure against him, as well as his work with the house-churches that had opened after the Iranian authorities began banning churches from holding services in the national language of Persian. In late 2011, after two years as the minister of the church, Pastor Salimi explained that he had travelled to the international airport in Tehran on his way to Dubai, where he was to be officially ordained, when his boarding pass and passport were suddenly confiscated, and he was taken in for questioning. Pastor Salimi (far left) alongside former Anglican bishop Iraj Mottahedeh at a church event. Then, on 22 February 2012, intelligence agents came to the minister’s home at 7.30am, and after confiscating all Christian items, detained him for more than two months, during which time he was beaten, interrogated for hours on end, accused of apostasy, and forced to sign a statement promising to have no further contact with any Christians, nor involvement in any Christian activities. Clearly, as a minister, this was difficult to accept, and yet Pastor Salimi says he abided by these restrictions to his life and faith. Nevertheless, the pressure continued, and intelligence agents came back to raid the minister’s home again in the summer of 2015, accusing him of continuing to meet with Christians. Eventually, the pressure and restrictions on his life and faith became too much, and in March 2016 Pastor Salimi travelled to Turkey, where he filed his claim for asylum. His wife and daughter followed him later that year. But in the years since, as with so many other Iranian Christian asylum-seekers, Pastor Salimi and his family have not even been acknowledged as refugees, let alone offered resettlement to a safe country. After years of waiting, in December 2020 the family’s application was finally reviewed, but rejected. Pastor Salimi with wife Mahindokht and daughter Sama. And while their appeal was initially successful, a further appeal by the Turkish immigration authorities backed up the court’s initial decision. Two reasons were given: firstly, that the pastor and his family were not considered to be at real risk of persecution if they returned to Iran, and secondly that the pastor had failed to correctly remember the precise date of his arrest at the Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran. Then, just last week, Pastor Salimi and his wife and daughter were served their deportation notice, giving them seven days to leave the country or be forcibly deported. Article18’s advocacy director, Mansour Borji, gave this reaction: “We urge the UNHCR and international monitoring bodies to ensure proper processes are put in place so that genuine asylum-seekers are not so unfairly treated and unjustly deported to countries where they may face severe harm, and possibly even risk to life.” Meanwhile, an Iranian Anglican minister now based in the UK, Rev Mohammad Eghtedarian, has set up a petition calling on the Turkish authorities to stop the deportation of Pastor Salimi and his family, and on the “UNHCR and international monitoring bodies to ensure Hekmat and his family are protected”. https://twitter.com/articleeighteen/status/1496150082110070793
‘We are just Christians worshipping according to the Bible,’ say converts in last defence 17 February 2022 News Left to right: Ahmad Sarparast, Morteza Mashoodkari, and Ayoob Poor-Rezazadeh. Three converts facing up to 10 years in prison for alleged “deviant propaganda” and ties with foreign organisations have denied all the charges against them and said they are “just Christians worshipping according to the Bible”. Ahmad Sarparast, Morteza Mashoodkari, and Ayoob Poor-Rezazadeh, who were giving their last defence this morning at Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court of Rasht, in northern Iran, added that they “have not engaged in any propaganda against the regime or any action against national security”. They also denied receiving any funds from abroad, while their lawyer, Iman Soleimani, told the court the accusations against the three men, who are all part of the non-Trinitarian “Church of Iran”, were based only on the information provided by intelligence agents of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), and nothing else. The case has now been sent back to the prosecutor’s office, which must decide whether there is any grounds for a conviction. Background Ahmad, Morteza and Ayoob, who were first arrested in September 2021, are the second group of converts to face charges under Article 500 of the penal code since it was amended last year. In June last year, three other converts, from Karaj, were sentenced to five years in prison under Article 500, later reduced to three years on appeal. Ahmad, Morteza and Ayoob were officially charged on 25 January at the 4th Branch of the Civil and Revolutionary Court of Rasht with “engaging in propaganda and educational activities for deviant beliefs contrary to the holy Sharia”, and “connections with foreign leaders”. And it is the last element – alleged organisational links or funding from abroad – that could be the difference between a five or 10-year prison sentence. In bringing the charges, the prosecutor, Hassan Rajabi, specifically referenced the trio’s membership of the “Church of Iran”, and went on to label them “Satan-worshippers who believe in the end of the world, the divisions between sects and races, the return of the Jews to their promised land, and the superiority of this race [Jews] to others, which proves the claim that they are working for foreign elements”. And while this denomination has non-traditional views regarding the Trinity, much of the rest of its teachings are entirely in keeping with the wider Church, making allegations of “Satan worship” seem an obvious attempt to vilify the group and lessen public sympathy for them. Article18’s advocacy director Mansour Borji commented: “This kind of labelling of a religious group, whatever their belief, in an official court document, shows a clear disregard by the Iranian authorities to their responsibilities as signatories to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which protects the rights to freedom of belief for all citizens, whatever those beliefs are. “Even the wording of Article 500 is at odds with Iran’s responsibilities in this regard, as it is clearly not the state’s job to decide whether an individual’s beliefs are ‘normal’ or not, let alone to prosecute them for these beliefs.”
Ramin Hassanpour, Saeede Sajadpour, Moslem Rahimi and Mehri Behjati 16 February 2022 Case Studies (Last updated: December 2023) Left to right: Ramin Hassanpour, Saeede Sajadpour, and Moslem Rahimi. Case referenced by Article18, Jubilee Campaign, HRANA, United For Iran, Middle East Concern, International Institute for Religious Freedom, The Christian Post, Iran Press Watch, Open Doors, CSW, Voice of the Martyrs, International Christian Concern Summary Hadi (Moslem) Rahimi, his aunt Sakine (Mehri) Behjati, and married couple Ramin Hassanpour and Kathrin (Saeede) Sajadpour – all converts – were given prison sentences in August 2020 of between two and five years for “acting against national security” by belonging to a house-church and “spreading Zionist Christianity”. Moslem began serving his sentence in January 2022, and the three others were summoned to begin their sentences a month later. The Supreme Court rejected the appeals of Hadi and Mehri for a retrial. Case in full Moslem, Mehri, Ramin and Saeede, all members of the non-Trinitarian “Church of Iran”, were first arrested in February 2020 for their membership of a house-church in Rasht, northern Iran. On 14 May 2020, they were taken to Lakan Prison after being unable to afford the bail set for them – of 500 million tomans (around $30,000) – when they were officially charged at Branch 10 of the Revolutionary Court in Rasht. Ramin and Saeede’s two sons – who were aged 16 and seven at the time – were forced to fend for themselves during their detention, the older staying at home by himself and the younger going to stay with his grandfather. They were eventually released a week later on reduced bail of 200 million tomans ($11,500). On 1 August 2020, the converts were sentenced to between two and five years in prison for “acting against national security” by belonging to a house-church and “spreading Zionist Christianity”. Ramin was given a five-year sentence, Moslem four years, and Mehri and Saeede two years. Their appeals were rejected in September 2020. On 9 January 2022, Moslem left behind his nine-month-old daughter to begin serving his four-year sentence at Tehran’s Evin Prison so that the property deed submitted by a friend to secure his bail may be released. A month later, the three others were told they must hand themselves in to the authorities in Tehran by the end of February. On 16 February 2022, Moslem and Mehri were told their applications for a retrial had been rejected by Branch 9 of the Supreme Court. On 16 April 2022, Mehri handed herself in to the authorities in Tehran to begin her sentence, and was later permitted a transfer to Lakan Prison in Rasht, so she could be closer to her children. However, in July 2022 she was denied access to a scheme that would have allowed her to spend most of her time outside prison – either working or looking after her children. On 15 February 2023, Moslem was released as part of a wider amnesty of prisoners on the occasion of the 44th anniversary of the Islamic Republic. That same month, Mehri was also pardoned and released from the remainder of her two-year sentence. Recommendations Article18 requests that the international community and Christians worldwide: Call for the immediate acquittal of Moslem, Mehri, Ramin and Saeede. Call for the swift application of due process in the cases of all who are detained and/or awaiting charges, trials, sentences or appeal hearings on account of their Christian faith and activities in Iran. Western countries should prioritise human rights in negotiations with Iran, especially freedom of religion or belief, and urge the government of Iran to recognise all minority-faith adherents, including converts to Christianity, as full citizens before the law, enjoying their full human rights. The international community should hold the Iranian government accountable for failing to uphold its international and constitutional commitments to protect the freedom of Christians in its territories. Closing churches, appropriating church property, arresting church leaders and threatening churchgoers are violations of freedom of religion or belief, as prescribed in Article 18 of the ICCPR, to which Iran is a signatory, without reservation, and therefore legally bound to uphold. Meanwhile, Article 13 of Iran’s Constitution states that Zoroastrians, Jews and Christians are recognised religious minorities, who are free to perform their religious rites and ceremonies. And Article 23 says “investigation of individuals’ beliefs is forbidden, and no-one may be molested or taken to task simply for holding a certain belief.” Background There has been a significant increase in human-rights violations in Iran in recent years, and particularly in the persecution of religious minorities, principally of Christians from the Iranian house-church movement. Ethnic Christian communities (Assyrian and Armenian) are permitted a degree of freedom to worship, although it is illegal for these churches to conduct services in Persian (the national language of Iran and the common language of converts). Bibles and other Christian literature are also illegal in Persian and those found in possession of such materials, especially in sufficient quantities for distribution, can expect severe treatment and prison sentences. Therefore, the growing community of Christian converts are not permitted to attend recognised churches and they have to gather for worship in secret house-churches, risking arrest and imprisonment. In the past few years, a number of Christians have been handed down sentences of between 10 and 15 years, charged with offences such as “acting against national security”. These political charges are used to help avoid an international outcry at more clearly religiously-motivated charges such as “apostasy”. Those detained or charged often have to obtain and hand over exorbitant amounts for bail, which are often forfeited as some choose to flee the country in the knowledge that they are very unlikely to receive a fair trial and just verdict. Those awaiting trial who flee the country are tried in absentia. Many will face a gruelling legal process, and until their case is heard, which could take several years, their lives are in limbo. The majority of the Christians arrested in the last few years have been released, either after finishing their prison sentences or temporarily released on bail with severe warnings and threats against any further Christian activity. Once released, they are closely monitored, and risk re-arrest and imprisonment if they engage, or are suspected of engaging, in any Christian activity. Iran was 9th on Open Doors’ 2022 World Watch List of the 50 countries where it is hardest to be a Christian. Article18’s 2022 annual report noted that Iranian Christians “continue to suffer widespread violations of their rights”. Of the publicly reported cases alone, 30 Christians endured imprisonment or exile in 2021 on charges related to their faith or religious activities, and 21 were still serving these sentences at the end of the year – 18 in prison, one in exile, and two more serving the remainder of their sentences at home with an electronic tag. Many others faced ongoing legal battles, while Christians continued to flee the country to seek asylum elsewhere, despite worsening conditions for refugees in neighbouring countries such as Turkey. Meanwhile, the first Christians were charged, sentenced and imprisoned under the controversial new amendments to Article 500 of the penal code, for “engaging in propaganda that educates in a deviant way contrary to the holy religion of Islam”. There was also great inconsistency regarding which prisoners were permitted release with an electronic tag – a growing trend in 2021 – and which were rejected the opportunity; or which prisoners were offered parole, and which were cruelly denied it.
Ahmad Sarparast, Morteza Mashoodkari and Ayoob Poor-Rezazadeh 15 February 2022 Case Studies (Last updated: December 2023) Left to right: Ahmad Sarparast, Morteza Mashoodkari, and Ayoob Poor-Rezazadeh Case referenced by Article18, Premier Christian News, IranWire, Iran News Wire, HRANA, International Christian Concern, CSW, Middle East Concern. Summary Ahmad Sarparast, Morteza Mashoodkari, and Ayoob Poor-Rezazadeh were the second trio of converts to have been imprisoned as a result of convictions under the amended Article 500 of the penal code, for “engaging in propaganda and educational activities for deviant beliefs contrary to the holy Sharia”, and “connections with foreign leaders”, for which they were sentenced to five years in prison. Case in full Ahmad, Morteza, and Ayoob, all members of the non-Trinitarian “Church of Iran” in Rasht, were first arrested on the evening of 5 September 2021, and transferred to an unknown location. It emerged later that all three had been taken to a detention centre belonging to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and placed in solitary confinement. But while Ahmad and Morteza were transferred to Lakan Prison on 18 September, then released on bail on 22 September, there were concerns about Ayoob, who was not heard from until a month after his arrest. Finally, on 3 October, Ayoob was also released from Lakan Prison on bail of 400 million tomans (around $15,000). During their detention, the families of the three men were threatened by IRGC intelligence agents for publicising information about the arrests of their loved ones, while at least one family member and several other house-church members were summoned for questioning. Meanwhile, the three men were accused of “acting against national security”, while their interrogators repeatedly referred to the recently amended Articles 499 and 500 of the Islamic Penal Code, relating respectively to membership or organisation of “anti-state” groups, and “propaganda” against the regime. They were also treated very harshly by their interrogators, who ridiculed them for their beliefs and forced them to listen to broadcasts of Quranic verses for at least three hours every day. On 25 January 2022, at the 4th Branch of the Civil and Revolutionary Court of Rasht, the three men were officially charged with “engaging in propaganda and educational activities for deviant beliefs contrary to the holy Sharia”, and “connections with foreign leaders”. The court document, signed by prosecutor Hassan Rajabi, specifically referenced the trio’s membership of the “Church of Iran”, and went on to label them “Satan-worshippers who believe in the end of the world, the divisions between sects and races, the return of the Jews to their promised land, and the superiority of this race [Jews] to others, which proves the claim that they are working for foreign elements”. And while this denomination has non-traditional views regarding the Trinity, much of the rest of its teachings are entirely in keeping with the wider Church, making allegations of “Satan worship” seem an obvious attempt to vilify the group and lessen public sympathy for them. Article18’s advocacy director Mansour Borji commented: “This kind of labelling of a religious group, whatever their belief, in an official court document, shows a clear disregard by the Iranian authorities to their responsibilities as signatories to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which protects the rights to freedom of belief for all citizens, whatever those beliefs are. “Even the wording of Article 500 is at odds with Iran’s responsibilities in this regard, as it is clearly not the state’s job to decide whether an individual’s beliefs are ‘normal’ or not, let alone to prosecute them for these beliefs.” On 17 February 2022, the three men denied all the charges against them as they gave their last defence at Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court of Rasht, saying they were “just Christians worshipping according to the Bible” and “have not engaged in any propaganda against the regime or any action against national security”. They also denied receiving any funds from abroad, while their lawyer, Iman Soleimani, told the court the accusations were based only on the information provided by intelligence agents of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), and nothing else. The case was then sent back to the prosecutor’s office to decide whether there was any grounds for a conviction. On 9 April 2022, the three men and their lawyer were summoned to return to Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court of Rasht, and informed that they had been sentenced to five years in prison and fined 18 million tomans (around $750). They lawyer complained that his clients had been convicted only on the basis of the claims of intelligence agents of the Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC); that the judge, Mohammad Hossein Hosseinpour, had also taken on the role of accuser; and that there was no legal justification for the sentences, as his clients’ only “crime” had been to meet together for Christian prayer and worship. A religious assembly, Mr Soleimani said, could not be considered an “action against the state”, while although Iran’s constitution forbids “inquisition” into a person’s beliefs, the judge’s very first question had been about their beliefs, and their confirmation of them drew an angry response. Their beliefs were later also referenced in the verdict. The three men appealed against the sentences, despite being told by the judge that if they accepted them and “remained quiet”, their sentences would be reduced by one-quarter, and they may also be more favourably treated in prison, such as being eligible in time for furlough, conditional release, or freed to serve their sentences at home with an electronic tag. However, the converts maintained that they have done nothing wrong, and therefore were not willing to simply remain quiet and accept their lot. Mr Soleimani, writing on Twitter, said: “I’ve been involved with this case from the beginning, and volumes of unspoken stories could be written regarding the shortcomings of how the arrest and preliminary investigations took place, the illegal proceedings in the Revolutionary Court in Rasht, and even the way my defendants were wrongfully condemned for someone else’s interview about them with Iran International.” In another post, he wrote: “Unfortunately, in political and ‘security’ cases, the judges are under a lot of pressure from the arresting agents, and some independent judges have openly stated this in the presence of lawyers and defendants, and complained about this situation and the fact that they can also face charges themselves if they do not comply.” Mr Soleimani added that the judge in Ahmad, Morteza and Ayoob’s case had even indicated to him that he was under pressure to give Christians the maximum possible sentences. Article18’s advocacy director, Mansour Borji, commented: “The verdict in this case is typical of arbitrary sentences, stating only that the individuals were convicted because they had remained ‘persistent in their beliefs’. This is clearly a violation of the Iranian constitution, and contrary to the repeated claims of regime officials that ‘no-one is imprisoned because of their beliefs’. The conviction is also based only on the reports of interrogators – nothing more – and is therefore entirely devoid of any legal justification. The proceedings in this case also clearly debunk Iranian officials’ claims, repeated constantly to international media, that the judiciary is independent.” On 8 May 2022, Ahmad and Ayoob were re-arrested alongside two other Church of Iran members, Behnam Akhlaghi and Babak Hosseinzadeh, and taken to an IRGC detention centre. Morteza had not been at home during the concurrent raids on their homes, but was detained two days later. When their families went to 4th Branch of the Prosecutor’s Office in Rasht to ask about their situation, they were told their loved one’s appeals against their five-year sentences had been rejected, even though the official hearing had yet to take place. Their appeals were officially rejected a month later. Then on 11 July 2022, they were told they must return to court on 19 July 2022 to face a second trial on identical charges. They gave their second “final defence” via video link from Lakan Prison on 5 July 2022, stating that they wanted to be “dealt with according to the constitution”, under which Christianity is a recognised minority faith. “We are Christians,” they said, “and we reserve the right to have a place for prayer and collective worship.” They again denied engaging in “any activities contrary to the country’s laws”. On 2 November 2022, the 2nd Branch of the Revolutionary Court of Rasht – the same court that issued five-year prison sentences in their first trial – this time cleared the men of wrongdoing. However, despite the identical charges in the two cases, the second ruling had no impact on the first. On 9 November 2022, Morteza was told he had been granted a “partial pardon” and a reduction of his sentence to two and a half years. Ahmad and Ayoob, however, received no such pardon. The three men were released from Lakan Prison in mid-2023, but ordered to report back daily for the remainder of their sentences to work without pay at a factory adjacent to the prison. Recommendations Article18 requests that the international community and Christians worldwide: Call for the convictions to be immediately overturned. Call for the swift application of due process in the cases of all who are detained and/or awaiting charges, trials, sentences or appeal hearings on account of their faith and activities in Iran. Encourage Western countries to prioritise human rights in negotiations with Iran, especially freedom of religion or belief, and urge the government of Iran to recognise all minority-faith adherents, including converts to Christianity, as full citizens before the law, enjoying their full human rights. Call the international community to hold the Iranian government accountable for failing to uphold its international and constitutional commitments to protect the freedom of Christians in its territories. Closing churches, appropriating church property, arresting church leaders and threatening churchgoers are violations of freedom of religion or belief, as prescribed in Article 18 of the ICCPR, to which Iran is a signatory, without reservation, and therefore legally bound to uphold. Meanwhile, Article 13 of Iran’s Constitution states that Zoroastrians, Jews and Christians are recognised religious minorities, who are free to perform their religious rites and ceremonies. And Article 23 says “investigation of individuals’ beliefs is forbidden, and no-one may be molested or taken to task simply for holding a certain belief.” Background The controversial amendments to articles 499 and 500 – relating respectively to membership or organisation of “anti-security groups”, and “propaganda” against the state or in support of opposition groups – were signed into law in February 2021. ARTICLE 19, an organisation dedicated to the protection of freedom of speech, called the changes to Article 500 in particular “a full-on attack on the right to freedom of religion and belief”. The amended version of Article 500 provides for up to five years’ imprisonment for “any deviant educational or proselytising activity” by members of so-called “sects” that “contradicts or interferes with the sacred law of Islam” through “mind-control methods and psychological indoctrination” or “making false claims or lying in religious and Islamic spheres, such as claiming divinity”. The amendment to Article 499 provides for up to five years’ imprisonment for “anyone who insults Iranian ethnicities or divine religions or Islamic schools of thought recognised under the Constitution with the intent to cause violence or tensions in the society or with the knowledge that such [consequences] will follow”. In both cases, the punishment can be doubled to up to 10 years’ imprisonment if the groups in question have received either financial or organisational help from outside the country. Article18’s advocacy director, Mansour Borji, called the amendments “a catastrophe” and “disservice to justice”. “These amendments will bring more ambiguity to an already ambiguous set of charges,” he said, “and decrease the chance that a judge may act in a more tolerant way towards house-church members, by providing greater scope within the law to bring charges on these vaguely-defined grounds. “This news will be celebrated by Iran’s intelligence agencies, who are always in the background in court cases against Christians, pressuring judges to impose the harshest possible sentence.” Human rights lawyer Hossein Ahmadiniaz previously warned that the bill, if passed, would “facilitate the repression and punishment of Christian converts and others belonging to unrecognised religious groups”. “The law should protect citizens, including Christian converts and Baha’is, against the government,” he said. “But in Iran the law has become a tool to justify the government’s violent treatment of converts and other unrecognised minorities.” Meanwhile, Hamid Gharagozloo from the International Organisation to Preserve Human Rights (IOPHR) cautioned: “By making it a crime to be part of a sect, and banning a group as a ‘sect’, it gives them an open hand to crush any form of uprising or dissatisfaction with the government… Any form of defiance will be labelled as a ‘sect’, and then it will be punishable by law.” In June 2021, three other “Church of Iran” members, from Karaj, Amin Khaki, Milad Goodarzi and Alireza Nourmohammadi, became the first converts to be sentenced under the new amendments. They were initially given the maximum sentences of five years for “engaging in propaganda that educates in a deviant way contrary to the holy religion of Islam”, but the sentences were reduced on appeal to three years.
Converts absolved by Supreme Court now face ‘propaganda’ charges 14 February 2022 News Behnam Akhlaghi (left) and Babak Hosseinzadeh. Two of the nine converts cleared by a Supreme Court judge of “acting against national security” have now been charged with “propaganda against the state”. Just six weeks after they were released from prison pending a review of their five-year sentences, Behnam Akhlaghi and Babak Hosseinzadeh were summoned last week to see a Tehran prosecutor, who on Saturday told them to return today with pay slips so they could be officially charged and released on bail. The new charges come just one week ahead of the review of their five-year sentences – and those of the seven others imprisoned alongside them – scheduled to take place on 22 February at Branch 34 of Tehran’s appeal court. The appeal court judge must decide whether to uphold the Revolutionary Court’s initial decision in October 2019 to imprison the men for their membership of house-churches, or whether to side with the Supreme Court judge who ruled in November 2021 that “merely preaching Christianity” or even promoting the “Evangelical Zionist sect” does not amount to an “action against national security”. The case has the potential to impact all other current and future cases involving Persian-speaking Christians. However, early optimism has dissipated in recent weeks – not only with today’s news about Behnam and Babak but also with the re-imprisonment last month of another of the nine men, Abdolreza (Matthias) Ali-Haghnejad, to serve a separate six-year sentence – of which he had already been acquitted seven years previously – following the intervention of a different Supreme Court judge.
UN rapporteur highlights Iran’s arrest of Christians ‘for practice of beliefs’ 10 February 2022 News Javaid Rehman (UN Web TV) The UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in Iran has reiterated his “concern” at the regime’s “continued repression of religious minorities”, including arresting Christians “for the practice of their beliefs”. In his latest report, released ahead of the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council later this month, Javaid Rehman specifically references the arrest of at least 53 Christians between 1 January and 1 December last year “for the practice of their religious beliefs”. He also highlights the “forcible closing of houses of worship on national security grounds”, and calls for the “release of all individuals arrested for the exercise of their rights to freedom of opinion, expression, association and peaceful assembly”. Mr Rehman adds that Iran should “ensure in law and practice the rights to freedom of opinion and expression, peaceful assembly and association” and “that any limitation on these rights is in accordance with international law”. “[Iran’s] Government stated that minorities were respected and that Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians were free to perform their religious rites under article 13 of the Constitution,” he adds. The primary focus of Mr Rehman’s latest report is “accountability for human rights violations” in Iran. Previous reports have focused on other issues including the persecution of Christian converts. However, in October last year Article18 joined seven other Christian organisations in publicly calling on Mr Rehman and the UN secretary-general, António Guterres, to “include specific reference to the main victims of FoRB [freedom of religion or belief] violations”, including Christians, in every report. In joint letters to the two senior UN figures, we noted how neither the secretary-general’s report on Iran in May 2021, nor the special rapporteur’s January 2021 report, contained a single reference to Iran’s persecution of Christians, though both called more broadly for Iran to “end discrimination” against religious minorities. In the letter to the secretary-general, we further queried why his report made no mention of the concerning amendments to Articles 499 and 500 of Iran’s penal code, which have been called a “full-on attack on the right to freedom of religion and belief” and are increasingly being used in the prosecution of Christian converts. There was also no mention of these amendments in Mr Rehman’s latest report.
Converts summoned to begin prison sentences for ‘spreading “Zionist” Christianity’ 9 February 2022 News Three converts from the northern city of Rasht have been summoned to begin serving prison sentences of between two and five years for “acting against national security” by attending a house-church and “spreading ‘Zionist’ Christianity”. Ramin Hassanpour, his wife Saeede, and another woman, Sakine (Mehri) Behjati, have until the end of February to hand themselves in to Branch 1 of the Office for the Execution of Judgments in Tehran’s 33rd district. The two women are to serve two-year sentences, while Ramin’s sentence is five years. A fourth member of their group, Hadi (Moslem) Rahimi, is already serving his own four-year sentence. The four, all members of the non-Trinitarian “Church of Iran”, were first arrested in February 2020. In May 2020, they spent a week in Lakan Prison in Rasht, having been unable to afford the 500 million toman bail ($30,000) set for them after the charges against them were read out at Branch 10 of the Revolutionary Court in Rasht. They were eventually released on reduced bail of 200 million tomans ($11,500). However, they were sentenced in August 2020, and their appeals were rejected in September 2020. Moslem, who has a 10-month-old daughter, began serving his sentence exactly one month ago today, so that the property deed submitted by a friend to secure his bail could be released.