Hardliner’s appointment as judiciary chief shows ‘only regime’s survival matters’ 5 July 2021 Analysis Photo: alef.ir The appointment of another infamous hardliner as the new head of Iran’s judiciary, replacing president-elect Ebrahim Raisi, is being seen as another step towards an even more repressive Islamic Republic. Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, who was Raisi’s deputy as Vice Chief Justice, was appointed on 1 July by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who hailed his new Chief Justice’s “brilliant record in the judiciary”. A stalwart of the regime, Ejei has held a number of other senior positions since the founding of the Islamic Republic in 1979 and is infamous for once biting a journalist during a dispute over an article. Dr Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights, told Article18 that both Ejei’s appointment as head of the judiciary and Raisi’s de facto appointment as president showed that for Khamenei, “only the survival of the regime – and repression – is important”. “The message of these appointments is that the regime will not tolerate anything other than 100% loyalty,” he said, “and anything that does not fall within the framework of this 100% loyalty will be suppressed, such as civil rights activists and religious minorities.” “They have been elected to these posts because the regime sees no other option for its survival [than repression],” he added, “because the Iranian people do not accept this regime and have no hope of positive change within the State.” Ejei has been part of the fabric of the regime since the early days of the revolution. The 64-year-old studied at the Haqqani Shia seminary in the conservative city of Qom, before going on to hold a host of senior regime posts, including Attorney-General, Minister of Intelligence, Prosecutor of Iran’s “Special Clerical Court”, and then Vice Chief Justice in August 2014. Iranian human rights lawyer Hossein Ahmadiniaz told Article18 Ejei’s appointment will “lead to a further regression of Iran’s judiciary”. “He is the best choice for the regime and the worst possible choice for the people, for civil society and the human rights community, and for the Iranian judiciary as an institution,” he said. “Ejei is a symbol of judicial torture, violence, injustice, lawlessness, legal ignorance, malice and subservience to the regime. For 42 years, he has served in all the lower and upper echelons of the regime’s security and judicial systems, and has spared no effort to ensure the regime’s survival, sacrificing all laws, justice, fairness, rights, dignity, and the integrity of the judiciary on the way. “From torture, to the overseeing of torture; from the issuance of a religious fatwa on death for apostasy, to the issuance of compulsory confessions and torture of political and security defendants in the judiciary and Ministry of Intelligence; or biting Isa Saharkhiz at the official meeting of the Press Supervisory Board – all and sundry are part of his black record. “Ejei will bring more suffering to the Iranian people from the judiciary and security forces. He is an undisputed subordinate of the Supreme Leader, and will give him more control of the judiciary than ever before.” Like Raisi, Ejei has been accused of involvement in the massacre of thousands of dissidents in 1988, while church leaders including Haik Hovsepian, Tateos Michaelian and Mohammad Bagher Yusefi (“Ravanbakhsh”) are among those who were “disappeared” during the subsequent decade of extra-judicial assassinations that later became known as the “chain murders”. Both Ejei and Raisi were part of a three-person panel that rejected a report from reformist cleric Mehdi Karroubi, claiming Green Movement protesters had endured sexual harassment and rape following the disputed results of the 2009 presidential election. Ejei was among 32 Iranian officials sanctioned by the European Union in 2011 for his role in the 2009 violence against protesters, while both Ejei and Raisi have been sanctioned by the United States for alleged rights violations. As Khamenei says, Ejei has quite the record.
Iran’s parliament backs death sentence for ‘cooperating’ with ‘hostile states’ 2 July 2021 News Embed from Getty Images Iran’s parliament has passed the first draft of a bill that champions the death penalty for anyone convicted of “spying” for or “cooperating” with “hostile states” – “especially the United States”. The bill, which was passed on 8 June, supposedly seeks to address “ambiguities” within Iran’s penal code regarding the “identification of hostile countries”, as well as “weak” deterrents against alleged anti-state actors. The news should concern advocates for human rights in Iran, including for Iran’s religious minorities, given that Revolutionary Courts routinely label any action that deviates from the wishes of the regime to be an “action against national security”. And as Hamid Gharagozloo from the International Organisation to Preserve Human Rights noted, “Every minority has been labelled as an ‘agent of foreign powers, with the aim overthrowing the regime’.” How could the bill affect Christians? House-churches are among the many groups to have been denounced by the regime as “hostile” entities, with virtually every recent prosecution of Christians citing their membership of such “enemy” groups, and some even referencing alleged collaboration with “foreign” or “Zionist” entities such as the USA and Israel. Some Christians have even been specifically convicted of “spying” in recent years, such as Iranian-Assyrian church leader Shamiram Issavi, who was sentenced to five years in prison in 2018 for “acting against national security by … training Christian leaders in Iran for the purposes of espionage”. If the new bill were to become law, such a conviction could lead to the death sentence. The first article of the bill states that “spying or cooperation with hostile states, including the United States government, against national security or national interests, will be considered an act of ‘corruption on Earth’ [mofsed fel-arz]”, which under Article 286 of the Islamic Penal Code is punishable by death. An Iranian Christian convert now seeking asylum in Germany told Article18 recently that intelligence agents in Iran had alleged that the girls refuge she had set up had been “purchased with the help of foreign Christians, with the aim of leading the girls away from Islam”. “The interrogators wanted to know more about how I’d set up the refuge, and where I’d got the money,” Bita Rezaee explained. “They thought we were funded by churches in America.” Christian convert Ebrahim Firouzi, who has spent years in prison and is now living in enforced internal exile, is another who has been quizzed for relations with supposedly “hostile groups”, including Article18. Last year, the prosecutor in Ebrahim’s city of exile queried why he had contacted “foreign” media outlets such as Article18, while among the charges leading to his original prison sentence – back in 2013 – were “communication with anti-revolutionary elements in foreign countries and foreign anti-revolutionary channels”. Again, were this bill to be passed, it is not inconceivable that such charges could eventually lead to a conviction of “corruption on Earth”, and the death sentence. Farshid Fathi, who spent five years in prison, is another well-known example of a Christian convert convicted of, among other things, “acting against national security” by “communicating with foreign organisations”. Meanwhile, Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh, a Christian convert currently serving a 10-year prison sentence in Tehran’s Evin Prison, was convicted of alleged “organisational relations” with a foreign church in Sweden and the “Zionist Christianity” of UK-based Elam Ministries. What else is in the bill? A sign outside the popular tourist site of Pasargadae, near Shiraz, shows the views of the Islamic Republic’s founder, Ayatollah Ali Khomeini, about “foreign” nations, and “in particular” America. Iranian legal expert Mohammad Moghimi told the US-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) that he was particularly puzzled by how the bill defines an “enemy state”. “An enemy state refers to a government that is waging war against Iran, a status that needs to be determined by a court in a fair judicial process,” he said, before warning that such processes are “usually absent in the Revolutionary Court”. The Mr Moghimi also highlighted how the bill suggests the establishment of a committee involving senior officials from the intelligence units of the Ministry of Intelligence, Revolutionary Guard Corps and army, who would decide on prosecutions in such cases. “It would have been more appropriate if the courts were put in charge of such matters,” he told CHRI. “But in this form, the bill paves the way for the security agencies to exert greater influence. “These actions are aimed at increasing punishments and putting more pressure on civil rights activists and dissidents,” he added. The bill also criminalises sending photographs or video footage of “crime scenes” to “enemy or foreign networks”. CHRI said such legislation is “designed to punish those who share visuals that could incriminate or embarrass the Islamic Republic of Iran, such as the killing of protesters by the security forces”. The bill also pledges support for those “on the sanctions list of hostile governments, especially the United States”. These individuals, the bill says, “will benefit from the maximum limit of protection provided … and the necessary judicial and legal measures will be taken to protect them”.
Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh’s request for conditional release rejected 29 June 2021 News Christian prisoner of conscience Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh has been told his request for conditional release has been rejected. The news comes as a bitter blow to the Christian convert, who turns 60 in August, having been regularly assured by prison authorities in recent months that his request would be accepted. Nasser is eligible for parole, having served over one third of his 10-year sentence for “actions against national security” – because of his membership of a Tehran house-church. Since beginning his sentence in Evin Prison in January 2018, Nasser has had three requests for a retrial rejected and has written several open letters querying why his membership of a house-church was deemed an “action against national security”. “Is the fellowship of a few Christian brothers and sisters in someone’s home, singing worship songs, reading the Bible and worshiping God acting against national security?” he asked in one letter. After frequent assurances from prison authorities in recent months, Nasser received a handwritten letter last week from the Tehran prosecutor’s office, informing him that his request had been rejected. There was no explanation for the decision. He has not yet been able to bring himself to tell his elderly mother, with whom he used to live and for whom he was the primary carer before his incarceration. Nasser had shared with her in recent months that he hoped soon to return and to ease the burden on the other relatives who have stepped in to care for her since his imprisonment. But now he must inform her that his – and her – wait goes on. Nasser has asked for people to pray for him, saying he needs “comfort from the Lord”.
Vatican appoints Polish archbishop as new ambassador to Iran 29 June 2021 News Fr Andrzej Józwowicz (Twitter @ChurchInPoland) The Vatican has appointed Polish archbishop Andrzej Józwowicz as its new ambassador to Iran. The 56-year-old, who previously served in a lower-level diplomatic role in Iran from 2009-12, was appointed by Pope Francis yesterday. He takes over from Italian archbishop Leo Boccardi, who had been in the post since 2013. Vatican’s new Apostolic Nuncio (envoy), Archbishop Leo Boccardi, presented his credentials this morning pic.twitter.com/RHYNsCLRV0— Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) November 5, 2013 Fr Józwowicz, who speaks six languages, had been the Vatican’s ambassador to Rwanda since 2017, and has also served as a diplomat in Mozambique, Thailand, Hungary, Syria and Russia. News of Fr Józwowicz’s appointment comes just a few weeks after Iran refused to extend the visa of a 75-year-old Italian Catholic nun who had dedicated her life to helping the country’s poor and needy. The only other nun at the convent in Isfahan, a 77-year-old Austrian, was also told she must leave the premises, leading the Vatican News Agency to warn the Catholic presence in the city would be “permanently lost”. Sisters Giuseppina Berti and Fabiola Weiss both worked for decades at a leprosy hospital in the north-western city of Tabriz, before moving to the convent in Isfahan. “It is to be hoped that the Iranian authorities will retrace their steps and reconsider their decision, allowing the sisters to continue in the country that they have loved so much and served with sacrifice and dedication,” it said. All that now remains of the Catholic Church in Iran, the news agency said, is two Assyrian archdioceses, which between them have one bishop and four priests; an Armenian diocese, which has just one bishop; and a Roman Catholic archdiocese, which hasn’t had a priest for six years and is still awaiting the arrival of its new archbishop, Dominique Mathieu, who was consecrated in February but has not yet been issued a visa. Yet despite the dwindling Catholic presence in Iran, Vatican spokespeople have been instrumental in the past in advocating for the release of imprisoned Christians including Mehdi Dibaj, who had been sentenced to death for apostasy and was killed shortly after his release, and Maryam Rostampour and Marziyeh Amirizadeh, who spent nearly nine months in Tehran’s Evin Prison.
Christian converts given maximum five-year sentences under penal code amendments 28 June 2021 News Left to right: Milad Goodarzi, Amin Khaki, and Alireza Nourmohammadi. Three Christian converts have been given the maximum sentence of five years each in prison under controversial recent amendments to Iran’s penal code. Amin Khaki, Milad Goodarzi and Alireza Nourmohammadi, who were also each fined 40 million tomans ($1,800), have been convicted of “engaging in propaganda that educates in a deviant way contrary to the holy religion of Islam” – words lifted directly from the newly amended Article 500. They were informed of the verdicts, which they intend to appeal, on Saturday, 26 June, at the 4th Branch of the Revolutionary Court in Karaj. They had been summoned two days earlier, following a short hearing at the same court on Monday 21 June, during which the Christians were forced to defend themselves after the judge, Mehdi Zeinali, claimed their lawyer had not completed the necessary documentation. Having asked whether they may bring their lawyer with them on Saturday, the Christians were told they were not entitled to a lawyer – a clear breach both of their rights and Iran’s constitution. Article 35 of the constitution states that “in all courts” (italics added), defendants are “entitled to select a lawyer for themselves”. Amin, Milad and Alireza, who have already spent time in prison for their Christian activities, are the first known examples of Christians being charged – and now convicted – under the newly amended Article 500. What were the charges based on? The charges against them followed coordinated raids by intelligence agents on their homes, and on the homes of nine other Christian families in Fardis, in November 2020. None of the Christians were arrested at that time, but many of their personal belongings were confiscated – including phones, laptops, Bibles, Christian literature and anything else to do with Christianity. The Christian items have not been returned. Then in the space of two weeks in January and February 2021, a member of each family was summoned for interrogation and ordered to sign commitments to refrain from meeting together – either in person or online. As Article18 noted at the time, Iranian Christians are routinely asked during interrogations to sign commitments to refrain from gathering together in house-churches, but this was the first known example of intelligence officials demanding they sign a commitment to have no further social engagements together at all, including online. And once again, it was a direct result of the newly amended Article 500, which prohibits “psychological manipulation” or so-called “mind control” by members of “sects” – in the “real or virtual sphere”, i.e. in person or online. When the Christians refused to sign the commitments, they were threatened with long prison sentences and told it would be better for them if they left the country. Then in May, Amin, Milad and Alireza were officially charged and each forced to submit bail of 250 million tomans (around $12,000) and told they must report weekly to the intelligence branch of Iran’s police force for the next six months. The other Christians have also been threatened with imprisonment or other ramifications, such as employment restrictions. Background The amendments to Article 500, and also 499, which relates to membership or organisation of “anti-security groups”, were ratified by Iran’s Guardian Council in March, having been signed into law by outgoing president Hassan Rouhani in February. They were initially proposed in Iran’s parliament in May last year, but were twice rejected by the Guardian Council, which must approve all bills. Ever since the amendments were proposed, rights groups including Article18 have warned they could be used to further clamp down on unrecognised religious minorities, including Christian converts, as the two articles were already routinely used in the prosecution of converts. 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”. And Article18’s advocacy director, Mansour Borji, labelled both amendments “a catastrophe” and “disservice to justice”, which will “bring more ambiguity to an already ambiguous set of charges … 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”. He added that the new amendments would 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 had previously warned that the amendments would “facilitate the repression and punishment of Christian converts and others belonging to unrecognised religious groups”. 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.”
Christian convert’s appeal rejected, summoned to serve sentence 28 June 2021 News Iranian Christian convert Hamed Ashoori has been summoned to begin his 10-month prison sentence for “propaganda against the Islamic Republic”, after his appeal was rejected. The 31-year-old, who lives in Fardis, west of Tehran, received a message on Saturday, 26 June – the same day his appeal was rejected – telling him he had 10 days to submit himself to the prison authorities in Karaj to begin his sentence. Hamed was sentenced in April 2021, following a final court hearing a month earlier at the 4th Branch of the Revolutionary Court in Karaj. The case against Hamed, which was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic, actually dates back to February 2019, though it was not reported until his sentencing earlier this year. Hamed was arrested by Ministry of Intelligence agents as he left his home on the morning of 23 February 2019. The intelligence agents proceeded to raid his home and confiscate all Christian items, including Bibles and other literature, as well as computer hard drives. He was then taken to Rajaei Shahr Prison in Karaj, where he was held in solitary confinement for 10 days, before being transferred to Ghezel Hesar Prison, also in Karaj, for another two days. During interrogations, Hamed was offered a large monthly salary if he “cooperated” by becoming an informant against other Christians. When he refused, he was beaten. Hamed was finally released on bail after submitting guarantees in the form of payslips. Hamed and another family member were then forced to attend “re-education” sessions with an Islamic cleric. After four such sessions, Hamed refused to participate in any more, and it was then that the court proceedings against him began. There are currently at least 20 Iranian Christians either serving prison sentences or living in enforced internal exile as a result of trumped-up charges related to the peaceful practice of their faith.
What will a Raisi presidency mean for Iran’s Christians? 22 June 2021 Analysis As the dust settles on Ebrahim Raisi’s unsurprising election victory, amid record low voter turnout, Article18 assesses what the result means for Iran’s Christians. Embed from Getty Images In his first press conference yesterday as Iran’s new president-elect, current head of the judiciary Ebrahim Raisi said that in all his endeavours to date, he had always sought to “defend human rights”. To say that his comments raised a few eyebrows would be something of an understatement. This is a man who, in 1988, was one of four judges to oversee the mass execution of as many as 5,000 political prisoners. In the years since, Mr Raisi has overseen countless other rights violations, including the brutal crackdown on dissent in November 2019, when as head of the judiciary the killing of more than 300 peaceful protesters took place under his direct supervision. As the US-based Center for Human Rights in Iran put it, “Since Raisi was appointed as judiciary chief by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in March 2019, violent repression and human rights abuses have not only continued unabated, they have intensified.” CHRI executive director Hadi Ghaemi said: “As president, Raisi has a duty to enforce the Constitution and defend the rights of citizens, and yet as Judiciary Chief, he has been responsible for countless, severe violations of citizens’ rights by the judicial branch.” Amnesty International’s reaction to Raisi’s victory was similarly scathing: “That Ebrahim Raisi has risen to the presidency instead of being investigated for the crimes against humanity of murder, enforced disappearance and torture, is a grim reminder that impunity reigns supreme in Iran,” said Amnesty’s Secretary General, Agnes Callamard. Iran’s President-elect Ebrahim Raisi has, for the first time, addressed allegations he played a role in the mass execution of political prisoners in 1988, in response to a question from Al Jazeera’s @AssedBaig ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/C0ZzXNg72u— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) June 22, 2021 What about Christians? Among the gross human rights violations that have continued – or even intensified – under Raisi’s watch is the ongoing crackdown on unrecognised religious minorities, such as Baha’is and Christian converts. It was to Mr Raisi that a letter from 120 Iranian lawyers and activists was addressed in October 2020, calling on him to overturn a ruling by a Bushehr court that a Christian convert couple could no longer retain custody of their adopted daughter because they were Christians and she, though her parentage was unknown, was considered a Muslim. They received no response. The ruling still stands. And it was Iran’s “High Council for Human Rights”, a branch of the judiciary under Mr Raisi’s direct control, who responded in January to a formal query from six UN rapporteurs about alleged “systematic persecution” of Christians in Iran. The response was a complete denial of any wrongdoing, instead referring to house-churches as “enemy groups” belonging to a “Zionist cult” with “anti-security purposes”. And it is this response, perhaps, that provides the greatest clue as to how Iran’s unrecognised Christians can expect to be treated under a Raisi presidency. For, as in the response to the UN, Mr Raisi used his very first remarks as president-elect yesterday to equate being a “defender of human rights” with “defending people’s security”. And as long as Christian converts continue to be viewed as belonging to “enemy groups” with “anti-security purposes”, they can expect to face a heavy hand. Article18’s advocacy director, Mansour Borji, warned ahead of the vote that Raisi’s likely victory would mean “more oppression, more persecution of Christians and a greater crackdown on civil liberties”. “The state appears to have grown more indifferent to international standards of human rights and religious freedom in particular,” he said. “To remain in power, it has also become indifferent to Iranian society in general. It is not playing its fake game of democracy anymore. “Persecution of Christians and other minority groups has been intensifying under Rouhani and it will only get far worse under Raisi. As the regime continues to lose its legitimacy among the people of Iran, it will turn to more authoritarian rule, and Christians are in the firing line.” In a conversation with Article18, Dr Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of the Oslo-based Iran Human Rights organisation, also warned that repression would likely increase under a Raisi presidency. “In the current situation, it is in the interest of the regime to intensify repression,” he said, regardless of who the Guardian Council put forward as president. “And of course, the record of Ebrahim Raisi over the past 40 years shows that he knows no bounds when it comes to executions and repression.” However, Mr Amiry-Moghaddam ended with a word of optimism, and a call to action: “While unfortunately repression will increase, the possibility for human rights institutions to increase the cost of this repression will also increase! “Iranian society wants change, and the people’s efforts to achieve this change will increase every day. And no president can stop these efforts.”
Elderly Italian nun told she must leave Iran 15 June 2021 News Isfahan’s last two nuns, Fabiola Weiss and Giuseppina Berti, have been told they must leave their convent, while Sister Berti must leave Iran. An elderly Italian nun who has dedicated her life to helping Iran’s poor and needy has been told her visa will not be renewed. Sister Giuseppina Berti, who is 75 years old, worked for 26 years at a leprosy hospital in the north-western city of Tabriz, before moving to a convent in Isfahan. But according to the Vatican News Agency, she has been told she must leave Iran in the coming days. The news agency says the nun’s departure will be a particularly heavy blow for the only other remaining nun at the Isfahan convent, Fabiola Weiss, a 77-year-old from Austria who worked for nearly 40 years in the leprosy hospital before moving to Isfahan. Sister Weiss’s residency permit has been renewed for another year, but she has also been told she must leave the convent, meaning the presence of the Roman Catholic Church in the city will be “permanently lost”, warns the report. Since the Isfahan convent was built in 1937, the nuns have “dedicated themselves to the education and training of young people”, according to the report, and used to run a large school before its confiscation after the 1979 revolution. However, in recent years, Sisters Berti and Weiss reportedly “did not carry out any outside activities, to avoid being accused of proselytizing”. “It is to be hoped that the Iranian authorities will retrace their steps and reconsider their decision, allowing the sisters to continue in the country that they have loved so much and served with sacrifice and dedication,” the report concludes. All that now remains of the Catholic Church in Iran, according to the report, is two Assyrian archdioceses, which between them have one bishop and four priests; an Armenian diocese, which has just one bishop; and a Roman Catholic archdiocese, which hasn’t had a priest for six years and is still awaiting the arrival of new archbishop Dominique Mathieu, who was consecrated in February but has not yet been issued a visa. There are reportedly a further three nuns in Tehran, and two consecrated laywomen.
Sara Ahmadi and Homayoun Zhaveh 9 June 2021 Case Studies (Last updated: May 2023) Case referenced by Article18, IranWire, Middle East Concern, Open Doors, International Christian Concern, Church in Chains, Voice of the Martyrs, Barnabas Fund Summary Iranian Christian converts Sara Ahmadi and her husband Homayoun Zhaveh, who has advanced Parkinson’s disease, were sentenced to eight and two years in prison, respectively, for leadership/membership of a house-church. They were arrested in June 2019, sentenced in November 2020, and their appeals were rejected in December 2020. They were first summoned to prison in March 2021, but it wasn’t until August 2022 – after two failed appeals for a retrial with the Supreme Court – that they were finally imprisoned. They were released on 9 May 2023, after a retrial. Case in full Iranian Christian converts Homayoun Zhaveh, 62, and his wife Sara Ahmadi, 43, were arrested by agents from Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence on 14 June 2019 as they holidayed with several other Christian families in the city of Amol, near the Caspian Sea. The other Christians were also questioned, but only Homayoun, who has advanced Parkinson’s disease, and Sara were detained – first in Sari, near Amol, and then in Evin Prison back in their home city of Tehran. Homayoun was released on bail a month later, but Sara was held for a total of 67 days, including 33 days in solitary confinement – mostly within the Intelligence Ministry’s Ward 209 – during which time she was subjected to extreme psychological torture. Their hearing took place on 11 November 2020 at Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran, under Judge Iman Afshari. On 14 November 2020, Judge Afshari sentenced Sara to 11 years in prison for an alleged leadership position within their house-church, and Homayoun to two years for membership of the group. They were also banned from foreign travel or membership of any social or political group for two years after their release, and given six months’ community service at a centre for the mentally disabled. On 30 December 2020, appeal-court judge Ahmad Zargar upheld the sentences, but ruled that Sara must serve only the longer sentence of eight years and not also the three-year sentence. (Judge Zargar was enforcing a legal norm in Iran whereby if a person faces two charges of a similar nature, for the same action, only the one with the higher penalty stands.) Their lawyer had argued in his appeal that the law was “unclear” on how meeting as a group of Christians could be construed as membership of an “illegal organisation”. “My clients have always insisted that they haven’t engaged in any actions against national security, nor do they harbour any animosity or hostility towards the government,” the lawyer stated, before adding that Homayoun’s condition would prevent him from partaking in any anti-security actions, even were he to wish to do so. Article18’s advocacy director, Mansour Borji, said: “To hand down a prison sentence to a man of Homayoun’s age, suffering with advanced Parkinson’s – and only because of his membership of a house-church – would be shocking were it not for Iran’s proven track record of systematically persecuting Persian-speaking Christians, regardless of their age, health, or any other reasonable considerations.” On 21 March 2021, they were summoned to appear at Evin Prison to begin their sentences. In April 2021, their lawyer applied for a retrial with Iran’s Supreme Court. Article18’s Mansour Borji said that were the Supreme Court to reject the case, “it would leave the regime with no leg to stand on if they continue to claim that Christians enjoy equal rights and that no-one is persecuted on account of their beliefs in Iran”. On 16 May 2021, those responsible for securing Homayoun and Sara’s release on bail received a written warning that if they did not appear at Evin Prison within 30 days, the property deeds they had submitted as collateral would be forfeited. Sara and Homayoun’s bank accounts were then frozen. On 2 June 2021, Article18 launched a petition, to be delivered to the Iranian embassy in London, calling on the Iranian authorities to “immediately and unconditionally drop all charges against the Sara and Homayoun”. On 9 June 2021, the couple were notified that the Supreme Court had rejected their appeal for a retrial. A second application was rejected on 24 November 2021. On 15 June 2021, they presented themselves at Tehran’s Evin Prison to begin serving their sentences, only to be told they could return home. The next time they answered a summons, on 13 August 2022, the couple assumed they were to be handed back property confiscated from them during their arrest. But instead of this, they were detained and transferred to prison. Their first two applications for a retrial were rejected, but on 9 April 2023, Easter Day, Branch 9 of Iran’s Supreme Court ordered that their case be reviewed. A month later, on 9 May 2023, Branch 34 of the Tehran Court of Appeal acquitted them and ordered their release. They were released later that same day. In the ruling, the appeal-court judge said that gathering with people of one’s own faith was “natural”, and having books related to Christianity was “also an extension of their beliefs”. He added that there was “no evidence” that Sara and Homayoun had acted against the country’s security or had connections with opposition groups or organisations. “The reports by the officers of the Ministry of Intelligence about organisation of home-groups to promote Christianity, membership, and participation in home-groups, are not considered as acts against the country’s security, and the law has not recognised them as criminal activity,” he said. Recommendations Article18 requests that the international community and Christians worldwide: 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.” Diplomatic involvement In March 2021, a member of the Irish parliament formally raised concerns over Sara and Homayoun’s case with Ireland’s foreign minister, demanding an official statement on “the treatment of Christians, Baha’i and other religious minorities in Iran, and in particular the recent summons to prison in Tehran of [Sara and Homayoun] for the crime of belonging to a house church”. In his written response on 1 April, Mr Coveney said “reports on the treatment of Christians, Baha’i, and other religious minorities in Iran are deeply concerning”. “It is unacceptable to discriminate against individuals on the basis of their religion,” he added. Mr Richmond told Article18 he welcomed Mr Coveney’s “confirmation that he raised human rights concerns [during a visit to] Iran and that Ireland will use its positions within the EU and on the UN Security Council to further these”. He added: “The situation in Iran for many is extremely concerning, and there is a duty to partners to raise these concerns.” 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 is 8th on Open Doors’ 2021 World Watch List of the 50 countries where it is hardest to be a Christian. Article18’s latest annual report noted that 115 Iranian Christians were arrested last year, though only 52 of those arrests were publicly reported. Meanwhile, two Iranian Christians were flogged for drinking wine as part of Communion, others were denied education or employment, and one couple were told they could no longer retain custody of their adopted daughter on account of their faith. By the end of 2020, 15 Christians were being held in Tehran’s Evin Prison on account of their faith, while two others were living in internal exile and another was imprisoned on a disputed criminal charge.
‘We want to be the voice of Iranian Christian converts to the international community’ 7 June 2021 News The group’s latest protest took place outside the Iranian embassy in Stockholm on 1 June. A group of Iranian Christian converts now living in Sweden say they want to be the voice of their fellow converts to the international community. One of the organisers of the “I am a Christian too” campaign, which has staged regular protest rallies in the Swedish capital, Stockholm, since October 2020, told Article18 they want to “be the voice of this sector of the Iranian society that the government is trying to marginalise, silence and isolate”. Speaking after the group’s latest protest outside the Iranian embassy in Stockholm last week, Amir Hossein Jaafari said: “We want to raise awareness and ask the Swedish government and international human rights community to make the Iranian State accountable for rights violations of religious minorities, and particularly Iranian Christian converts.” Mr Jaafari further called on Sweden to “stop its contradiction between words and actions, by holding the religious government of Iran accountable for violating human rights, and also working hard to inform the Swedish society about the deplorable human rights situation in Iran”. “In particular, we ask the Swedish government to prioritise the human rights of religious minorities in Iran over Sweden’s economic interests,” he said. He noted that “the persecution of the Iranian converts continues and, according to reports, in recent months, two Iranian Christians were flogged for drinking wine as part of Communion, others were denied education or employment, and one couple were told they could no longer retain custody of their adopted daughter on account of their faith.” The group’s protests have been covered by international Persian-speaking media outlets including Radio Farda and Iran International. And Mr Jaafari said their persistence in spite of Covid-19 restrictions has meant that “today more Iranian Christians from Stockholm and even surrounding cities have joined the campaign”. The protesters also marched from a main Stockholm square to the parliament. Christianity is a recognised minority religion in Iran, but Christian converts aren’t recognised as Christians and are prohibited from attending the services of Iran’s recognised ethnic Armenian and Assyrian Christians. As a result, Iran’s converts, of whom there are believed to be at least several hundred thousand, have to choose between practising their faith alone at home, or taking the risk to join a house-church, which the Iranian regime refers to as “enemy groups” with “anti-security purposes”. (In reality, house-churches look very similar to the “house groups” Christians around the world belong to, simply providing a place for Christians to meet together to worship and pray.) These house-churches are regularly raided by intelligence agents of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence or Revolutionary Guard Corps, and members arrested and charged with “actions against national security”. There are currently at least 20 Iranian Christians in prison or exile as a result of their membership of a house-church. Several others are awaiting the result of court cases against them, while many more have fled abroad to avoid imprisonment or the threat of further persecution.