Iranian pastor and wife fled after threat of execution for apostasy 28 November 2018 News Farhad Sabokrooh with his wife Shahnaz, in an undated photo. An Iranian pastor who fled the country with his wife four years ago after they were both threatened with execution for apostasy has shared his story at the US State Department. Farhad Sabokrooh, who was a supervising pastor with Iran’s Assemblies of God network for 25 years, fled to Turkey in March 2014 and resettled in the United States in 2016. He was one of the guest speakers at a roundtable discussion on ‘Religious Freedom in Iran’ at the US State Department on 27 November. The pastor shared how he was arrested and imprisoned three times during his 25 years as a pastor, and that the last of these, when his church in Ahvaz was raided by 40 armed agents on 23 December 2011, led eventually to his and his family’s exit from Iran. Now hearing testimony from three representatives of persecuted religious communities in #Iran:• Anthony Vance (Baha’is)• Hamid Gharagozloo (Gonabadi Sufis)• Pastor Farhad Sabokrooh (Protestant/Assemblies of God) pic.twitter.com/VkuHgutXR1— USCIRF (@USCIRF) November 27, 2018 His full testimony is below: “Hello everybody. I am Pastor Farhad Sabokrooh, minister of Iran’s Assemblies of God church and supervising pastor of a number of churches in Iran for 25 years. I am grateful for the opportunity that has been given to me to share part of our story. Although I know that it is difficult to relay all the persecution accounts that the Iranian church has faced during these years in such a short time, but I will try to explain what has happened during these last years to our ministry. I have to mention that during these 25 years I have been arrested and imprisoned three times and during this time I have been threatened and interrogated numerous times by security services. But today I want to talk about our last arrest, which led to our deportation from Iran, our own country. On 23 December 2011, in the Ahvaz Assemblies of God Church, along with more that 70 men, women and children, we were worshiping. Suddenly armed agents with covered faces entered the church. They had three cameras and climbed the church’s walls and surrounded the whole church from inside out with 40 agents. They even had some agents on the rooftop. Immediately after their invasion they seized all cell phones, cut off all communication and took the cameras which were recording our session. Their invasion caused severe distress among our congregation, so much that children were crying and women were terrified. Unfortunately one of the woman who had a hard time to get pregnant and was pregnant at the time lost consciousness. When it happened we rushed to help her but those agents stopped us and did not allow anybody to take her to hospital. The amount of distress was so forceful that some women in our congregation in that day or following days had serious internal bleeding problems which to this day its aftermath affects their daily lives. Agents separated men and women, then started to record each person and each room on their cameras. Another group of agents searched each room in the church thoroughly and collected anything they needed as evidence. This evidence included my personal library (containing rare and old books), all the documents and church-related and personal letters, Bibles, worship songbooks, photos, the church’s PCs and even personal laptops. They took men to one side and women to the other and started filming them one by one, and while doing so they threatened them about what is going to happen to them. They did the same to women and threatened they would inform their family and their husbands about their conversion to Christianity and order them banned from work or education. They also had children locked up in one room and one of the agents was watching them. The children were terrified and all of them were sobbing. It made the agents take the children out of the church and, with my persistence, they accepted to take children to one of our member’s homes, which was close by. They accepted my request under the condition that one of their agents must stay with them at that home. The increasing tension caused verbal and physical confrontation between the church members and agents. One of the women who was not cooperating was attacked by an agent and was stopped by one of our young members. But that young man was beaten up by agents. Their operation took so long and each second was causing more distress and after three hours they had everybody on buses. They took the whole congregation to the local Enghelab [Islamic] Court and after interrogations and acquiring all ID cards and signing an oath that they wouldn’t return to church, they released everybody, one by one. Though they had started to summon each person one by one and interrogated them for long hours. Later on they asked for our non-Christian friends and interrogated them for just being friends with us. But it did not end there. After taking all the people from the church, they took me and my wife [Shahnaz], with two other leaders of the church, blindfolded. They took us to one of the Iranian intelligence service’s secret jails. As we were leaving they said that they have something on their mind for our children later. For two months we had been under lots of pressure, long hours of interrogation and harassment. An interrogator told me: ‘We have to find answers and until then you will stay locked up.’ The effect of prison, threats and interrogations were so harsh. Therefore after seven years our family still sees nightmares related to those days. We were under pressure in jail and our two children were being harassed outside of jail. They were repeatedly interrogated and threatened by security agents. In one of the interrogations they told my daughter: ‘Your Father has to cooperate. If not, he will end up like Bishop Haik Hovsepian.’ (Bishop Haik was one of the senior pastors in Iran’s Assemblies of God church who was stabbed to death 25 years ago.) The pressure and threats were not exclusive to us in Iran but also they had threatened our son who was studying in Armenia. He was harassed, followed and was under surveillance. They deprived him of of scholarship rights and were hardly cooperating with him in the embassy. After two months they freed us on bail. But later we were sentenced to one year of imprisonment. And so me, my wife and two other leaders of the church were imprisoned separately. Before being released from prison, me and my wife were forced to sign agreements. According to this agreement we had to leave Iran, otherwise we will be sentenced to apostasy and executed. We signed those agreements without seeing each other. On March 2014 we left Iran and sought asylum in Turkey and were resettled in the USA on June 2016. We are thankful to be in this country, safe and sound, but we still carry scars of our bitter past on our souls. Currently, there are lots of known and unknown imprisoned believers in Iran. We hope to see Iran again and that one day every race, religion and belief could live in peace alongside each other in that land. Thanks for the time you have given me.”
‘Converts’ isolation leads to reliance on satellite TV to stay connected’ 3 October 2018 News Article 18’s Mansour Borji (second from left) was among the speakers at this morning’s event (SAT-7) Article18’s advocacy director, Mansour Borji, was one of the speakers at a panel discussion on religious freedom in London this morning. Borji explained how the Iranian government has limited Christian converts’ right to freedom of assembly, leading to isolation and a reliance on satellite television as a means of staying connected to their faith community. However, he added that the Church in Iran continues to grow, despite this repression. “Faith endures,” he said, sharing how he had spoken just yesterday with four Christians currently incarcerated in Tehran’s Evin Prison for holding church services in their homes. Another of the speakers at the event, which was co-sponsored by by Middle East broadcaster SAT-7 and the Conservative Christian Fellowship, was the UK’s Minister of State for the Middle East, Alistair Burt. Mr Burt said that incidents of religious intolerance and discrimination were “on the rise across the globe” – and not only against Christians. He stressed that while Christians should be able to share their faith freely, there was also a need to understand the context in which they were doing so. “If you are working in the Middle East, where the infusion of faith with everyday life … runs right through societies, through governance and everything else, not to have a sensitivity for the cultural context is harmful,” he said. He also celebrated the recent appointment of Tariq Ahmad as the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief, saying the UK government had “become aware of the need to advocate more firmly for [religious freedom] and, in a non-threatening manner, to try and raise the issue”. “I know that the Conservative Christian Fellowship and others have campaigned for a long time that the government should have an advocate, as they do in some other countries,” he said. “And I’m sure friends here will be pleased that this is something the Prime Minister has done.”
‘Converts at constant risk of arrest’ 19 September 2018 News Article18’s Mansour Borji addresses the conference (Norge IDAG) Iranian converts to Christianity are at “constant risk” of arrest, Article18’s Advocacy Director, Mansour Borji, told a conference in Norway today. “I want to ask Christians all over the world to insist on full rights for Christians in Iran,” he said. “Human rights are indispensable and must be respected for everyone.” Borji explained that while ethnic Armenian and Assyrian Christians are able to worship freely in Iran, they must do so only in their own ethnic languages and are strictly forbidden from evangelising to Muslim-born Iranians. This wasn’t always the case, Borji explained, but a sharp rise in conversions to Christianity in recent years has led to a crackdown by the authorities. Several churches have been closed, and heavy prison sentences of up to 15 years have been given to converts as well as ethnic Assyrian or Armenian Christians found to have been active in evangelism. At the time of the 1979 revolution, there were a number of Catholic and Orthodox, and even some evangelical denominations, in Iran, Borji explained. And for a long time after the revolution, many of these churches continued to operate and it was possible for converts with a Muslim background to connect with some of them. He added that as long as converts kept a low profile and did not take on a leadership role within the church, they were largely free from danger. However, in the past decade, stringent measures – such as banning church services and Christian literature in the Farsi-language – have been taken to ensure converts are kept away from the official churches, meaning only underground churches in private homes, known as “house churches”, are available to them. “These are the only available form of Christian community for Iranian converts,” Borji explained. “And there you are at constant risk of arrest, leading to imprisonment, ill treatment in prison, torture, tough interrogations, no legal assistance, surveillance and harassment, losing your job or being denied access to education, and at worst losing your life.” He shared the example of one “house church” meeting that was raided by officers from Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence, who arrested most of those present, sentencing them to an average of three and a half years in prison. “All they had done wrong was to meet for worship,” Borji noted. Rob Duncan from Article18’s partner organisation Middle East Concern was another of the speakers at the event. He explained how the number of known converts in Iran had risen from around 500 at the time of the 1979 revolution to as many as 360,000 today, according to figures from Elam Ministries. But he added that there is now “no opportunity for Christians to gather freely” and reiterated that all members of “house churches” are at “constant risk” of arrest. Duncan said that he knew of Iranian Christians who had been summoned for questioning by the intelligence service “every single day for years in a row”. “Others are systematically summoned for questioning each time important family events occur. For example, one was summoned for interrogation just as his son was getting married,” he said. Duncan explained that there has been a “massive increase” in conversions to Christianity in Iran – “especially among young people, and despite the persecution of the Islamic regime”. “Even Islamic leaders recognise that this is happening,” he added. But with the increase in conversions has come an increase in persecution, which has in turn led many Christians to flee Iran, seeking refuge in countries such as Norway. The question of how best to deal with the growing numbers of converts claiming asylum in Europe was raised. And Norway was criticised for seeking to gauge how likely a returning convert would be to keep their faith secret and therefore avoid persecution. Duncan said that it was “not realistic that someone could avoid this threat just by being silent about their faith”. “If you’re part of a ‘house church’ meeting, you’re in constant danger of being discovered,” he said. “Although people are very careful about how they behave, they are still in danger. If you speak to someone one to one, you cannot know if the other person is informing the police or intelligence agency.” Ketil Larsen, the Deputy Director General of Norway’s Immigration Appeals Board, acknowledged that no-one should be sent back to Iran only to face persecution, and said that no-one should be forced to keep their faith hidden.
Amnesty International calls for repeal of Christians’ prison sentences 23 August 2018 News Clockwise from top-left: Hadi Asgari, Shamiram Issavi, Amin Afshar-Naderi and Victor Bet-Tamraz. Following the publication of numerous reports by Article18 on the violation of the rights of a group of Iranian Christians, Amnesty International today issued an urgent campaign for their sentences to be repealed. Amnesty International said the sentences against the pastor Victor Bet-Tamraz, his wife, Shamiram Issavi, and Christian converts Amin Afshar-Naderi and Hadi Asgari – of between five and 15 years in prison – were “solely for practising their Christian faith, including through attending Christmas gatherings and organising house churches. If imprisoned, they would be prisoners of conscience”. Amnesty said that in sentencing the Christians, the Iranian authorities had “cited peaceful activities such as holding private Christmas gatherings, organising and conducting house churches, and travelling outside Iran to attend Christian seminars, as ‘illegal church activities’ which ‘threaten national security’ in order justify their convictions”. They noted that the Christians, who are all currently on bail, are awaiting the results of their appeals. Amnesty appealed to its supporters to call for Iran to “stop the harassment, arbitrary arrest and detention, and imprisonment of Christians, including converts”. Victor was first arrested on 26 December 2014, along with Amin and another convert, Kavian Fallah-Mohammadi, as they celebrated Christmas together at the pastor’s home. After several months, they were released on bail, awaiting sentencing. Amin was then re-arrested on 26 August 2016, alongside Hadi and three others (including Victor’s son, Ramiel), at a private house in Firoozkooh, Tehran province. In July 2017, Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced Victor, Hadi, Amin and Kavian to 10 years in prison each for “constituting a house church with the aim of disrupting the security of the country”. The same court sentenced Amin to five years’ extra imprisonment for “insulting Islamic sanctities”. Victor’s wife, Shamiram, was summoned to the prosecutor’s office in Evin Prison on 19 June 2017 and charged with crimes related to her Christian faith. In January 2018, Branch 26 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Tehran sentenced her to five years in prison for membership of a group that aimed to disrupt national security. Amnesty International called for its supporters to write to the Iranian authorities, demanding that they: “Respect the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including the freedom to have or to adopt or change a religion or belief of one’s choice, and freedom, either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest one’s religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching, as guaranteed under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a state party.” Supporters are told to send their protest letters to the head of the Iranian judiciary, the Tehran Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor, and the Deputy for Human Rights and International Affairs, before 4 October 2018. Mansour Borji, Article18’s advocacy director, welcomed Amnesty’s campaign, saying: “The protests of Iranian citizens and Christians throughout the world can be a positive step in a long road towards recovering the trampled rights of Christians and other religious minorities.” He added: “There are even more Christians – like Ebrahim Firouzi, Sevada Aghasar, Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh, Yousef Nadarkhani, Mohammad Reza Omidi, Zaman (Saheb) Fadaie, Mohammad Ali Mossayebzadeh, and Majid Reza Souzanchi – who have been sentenced to 5-10 years in prison, and we also want to see them freed.”
12 Christians sentenced to year’s imprisonment in Bushehr 7 August 2018 News Shapoor Jozi and his wife Parastou Zariftash are among the 12 The Islamic Revolutionary Court of Bushehr has sentenced 12 Christians to one year’s imprisonment each for “propaganda against the Islamic Republic for the benefit of Christianity”. These Bushehr Christians, most of whom were official members of the Assemblies of God church in Iran, were arrested back in April 2015, following extensive operations by intelligence agents in the city. Plainclothes agents raided their homes and confiscated materials including books, pamphlets, family photographs, and paintings and carpets imprinted with the image of Christ and Christian symbols. These items were described in court as “means of committing a crime”. After initial interrogation, two of the Christians were detained and the others were temporarily released on bail. But each of the Christians were required to report for a series of lengthy interrogations. The Christians initially didn’t want any publicity, which is why the case is only now being reported, but even now several of the Christians have asked to remain nameless. The proceedings have taken two and a half years to get to this point. Finally, Judge Abbas Asgari, head of Branch 1 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Bushehr, charged each of them with “propaganda against the Islamic Republic in favour of Zionist Christianity by organising home gatherings, inviting people to Christianity and converting to the Christian world,” and, under Article 500 of the Islamic Penal Code, he sentenced them to one year in prison. “We were official members of the Assemblies of God Church,” one of the Christians, Shapoor Jozi, whose wife Parastou Zariftash was also sentenced, told Article18. “But after the closure of the Assemblies of God Church in 2013, we were also put under pressure, and it gradually reached a point where in 2015 all of us were arrested.” He added: “My wife and I denied the allegations and insisted that we were only Christian believers and had no connection with any organisation or organ and did not propogate, but they insisted to somehow link us to organisations abroad. “Due to the high pressures and security threats, we have so far refused to report to human rights and media organisations. But contrary to claims by Iranian government officials, keeping the silence about the incident for the past three years has not helped reduce our final verdict.” During this time, the Bushehr Christians were subjected to extreme psychological pressure, or so-called “white torture”. According to received reports, “humiliation, the threat of physical torture and even murder” has been used to put pressure on the Christians to “deny their Christian faith and return to Islam”. According to the law passed by the Iranian Parliament in 2004, titled “Respect for Legitimate Freedoms and Citizenship Rights”, “any torture of a defendant in order to obtain a confession or any coercion to achieve another outcome is prohibited and has no legal validity”. Article18’s director, Mansour Borji, described the allegations against the Christian converts and the lengthy judicial proceedings as “an example of an inquisition and a clear violation of their freedom of religion and belief”, adding that “following an ineffective policy in recent years, security agencies have tried to eliminate Persian-speaking Christianity in a seemingly legal manner, while exerting illegal pressure and making false accusations through the revolutionary courts.” Last year’s report by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom noted: “Over the past year, there were numerous incidents of Iranian authorities raiding church services, threatening church members, and arresting and imprisoning worshippers, particularly Christian converts… and often they were charged with unfounded national-security-related crimes.”
Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh: ‘I am in prison because of my faith in Jesus Christ’ 7 August 2018 News Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh, a Christian convert serving a 10-year sentence in Tehran’s Evin prison for “acting against national security through the establishment of house churches”, says: “It’s clear to all, including the prison authorities, judges, lawyers and my fellow prisoners, that I am in prison because of my faith in Jesus Christ.” Nasser, who was sentenced in May 2017 by Judge Mashallah Ahmadzadeh, head of Branch 26 of the Islamic Revolution Court in Tehran, has written an open letter to the officials of the government and the judiciary, raising three fundamental questions: “Would it be even possible for a committed Christian – who was born and raised in Iran and whose forefathers lived in this land for thousands of years, and who is a servant to the God who has called him to a ministry of reconciliation – to act against the national security of his own country? “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? “Isn’t it a clear violation of civil and human rights, and an absolute injustice, to receive a ten-year prison sentence just for organising ‘house churches’, which is a sanctuary sanctified as a place to praise and worship God due to closure of churches in Iran?” Nasser was sentenced under Article 498 of the Islamic Penal Code, which states: “Anyone, with any ideology, who establishes or directs a group, society, or branch, inside or outside the country, with any name or title, that constitutes more than two individuals and aims to perturb the security of the country, if not considered as mohareb [an enemy of God], shall be sentenced to two to ten years’ imprisonment.” Despite his lawyer’s well-documented defence and serious doubts about the legality of the charges, Branch 36 of the Tehran Court of Appeals, presided over by Judge Hassan Babaei, upheld his 10-year prison sentence on 12 November 2017. After the appeal failed, Nasser’s lawyer, Hussein Ahmadi-Niyaz, told Article18: “There has been no confession, neither is there any evidence that they wanted to overthrow or undermine the security of the state. “Throughout their interrogation process these detained Christians have emphasised that their relationship had purely a religious nature. They prayed together and spoke about the Bible.” Nasser, who turned 57 last week, was first arrested in June 2016 alongside three Azerbaijanis at a private gathering. All four Christians were detained for over four months, including two months each in solitary confinement, before they were released after paying bail of 100 million tomans each (around $35,000). The Azerbaijanis returned to their homes and families after their release and will not be forced to return to Iran to serve their sentences. But on 30 January 2017, after three months on bail, Nasser was taken to Tehran’s Evin Prison to begin his sentence. In his letter, Nasser, added: “I bless those who have persecuted me and put me in jail” and “I thank God in perfect joy and peace for considering me worthy to be here because of my faith in and witness to Jesus Christ”. He also thanked the Christians all around the world who have prayed for him, writing: “I sincerely thank all my brothers and sisters in Christ who give me grace by helping me and offering prayers, which are like a pleasing fragrance to God.” ******************** Nasser’s letter Thanks be to God, who in His wonderful mercy calls us to a new life in Jesus Christ for a living and lasting hope; the Father of all things good, whose name is holy. It is written in his merciful Word: “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted.” (Romans 13: 1-2) My question to the authorities, judges and interrogators from the Ministry of Intelligence, who are the eyes of the ruling authority in my country, is this: Would it be even possible for a committed Christian – who was born and raised in Iran and whose forefathers lived in this land for thousands of years, and who is a servant of the God who has called him to a ministry of peace and reconciliation, to take action against the security of his country (the crime attributed in my indictment is “acting against the security of the country through the establishment and organising of house churches”)? 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? Isn’t it a clear violation of civil and human rights, and an absolute injustice to receive a ten-year prison sentence just for organising ‘house churches’, which is a sanctuary sanctified as a place to praise and worship God due to closure of churches in Iran? But I praise God that He has turned all things into a blessing, as it has become clear to everyone, from the head of the prison to the judges and lawyers and my cellmates, that I am imprisoned for my faith in Jesus Christ and this will serve to further advance the Gospel. Therefore, first of all, I bless those who have persecuted me and put me in jail, and I hope one day the truths of His word, which is able to build everyone up, will save them. Secondly, I thank God in perfect joy and peace for considering me worthy to be here because of my faith in and witness to Jesus Christ. I trust the almighty God who is able to bring the dead to life, and I eagerly await His return. He can preserve me and keep me firm. I sincerely thank all my brothers and sisters in Christ who give me grace by helping me and offering prayers, which are like a pleasing fragrance to God. I continuously remember them in my prayers. I know because of their prayers and the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit I will be delivered and will not be put to shame. Servant of the Lord, Nasser Navard Evin Prison
Rasht converts violently arrested 26 July 2018 News Left to right: Saheb Fadaie, Yousef Nadarkhani, Yasser Mossayebzadeh, and Youhan Omidi. On Sunday morning, 22 July, plainclothes officers attacked the Rasht home of “Church of Iran” pastor Yousef Nadarkhani, and, after beating him and his 16-year-old son, took him away to begin his 10-year jail sentence. After the agents had rung the bell, it was Yousef’s teenage son Danial who opened the door. Article18 understands that before he could call for his father, the officers suddenly covered Danial’s mouth and stunned him with an electroshock weapon, incapacitating him. When Yousef came to the door, he told the agents he would accompany them without resistance, and invited them to calm down. But the agents stunned him with the taser as well, and beat him, before taking him away. The pastor contacted his family a day after his arrest and informed them that he was being held in “quarantine” on a ward in Evin Prison where conditions are known to be dire – the authorities usually keep prisoners in this ward to punish them. In the following three days, the three men sentenced alongside Yousef – Mohammad Reza Omidi, Mohammad Ali (Yasser) Mossayebzadeh and Zaman (Saheb) Fadaie – were also taken to begin their sentences. The four men were arrested at a private home in Rasht on 13 May 2016. Then a year later, on 24 June 2017, Judge Mashallah Ahmadzadeh, head of Branch 26 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court, sentenced them to 10 years each in prison for “forming a house church” and “promoting Zionist Christianity”. Yousef was also sentenced to two years in exile in the city of Nik Shahr, in far southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan Province, while Mohammad Reza was sentenced to two years’ exile in Borazjan, in south-western Bushehr Province. Judge Ahmadzadeh last year sentenced three Christians – Victor Bet-Tamraz, Hadi Asgari and Kavian Fallah-Mohammadi – to 10 years each in prison and a fourth, Amin Afshar Naderi, to 15 years. This is not the first time Yousef has been behind bars. In 2009, he was charged with “apostasy”, then sentenced to death in 2010, a decision that was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2011. The pastor was repeatedly asked to renounce his faith during court hearings, to save himself from the death penalty, but refused. However, the pressure of the international community, human rights organisations and churches around the world led the Supreme Court to overturn its decision; Yousef was acquitted of “apostasy” and sentenced instead to three years in prison for “propaganda against the system”. After serving his sentence, he was released in September 2012, but the pressure of the Iranian government on Yousef and his family continued. His son, Danial, was prevented from progressing at school because he refused to sit an Islamic religious education test. The authorities had insisted that Danial participate in the test, against his and his parents’ wishes, in addition to attending Islamic teachings and Quran classes. This is contrary to the rights of Iranians born in Christian homes; according to Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, parents have the right to pass on their own religious teachings to their children, and the authorities are not permitted to intervene.
Zoroastrian allowed back on to Yazd City Council 21 July 2018 News (Twitter @NiknamSepanta) A Zoroastrian will be allowed to continue as member of Yazd City Council after Iran’s Expediency Discernment Council voted today that religious minorities can be nominated in the Islamic councils of cities and villages.. Sepanta Niknam had called on Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to attend the meeting and defend the presence of religious minorities, but Mr Rouhani did not attend. The appointment of Mr Niknam to the Yazd City Council had been suspended following the complaint of a Muslim rival for the position, Ali Asghar Bagheri. Subsequently, Branch 45 of the Administrative Court of Justice ruled in favour of the complainant and voted for Mr Niknam to discontinue his activities. Mr Niknam had already served one four-year term on the council, without incident. But in April Ahmad Jannati, Secretary of the Guardian Council, said religious minorities should not be allowed to run for public office as it was not in keeping with Ayatollah Khomeini’s vision for Iran. Conservative MPs then proposed that Iranians should only be allowed to vote for members of their own religious group, but this would essentially make it impossible for anyone other than Shia Muslims to win elections.
Pastor’s son sentenced to 4 months in prison 19 July 2018 News Ramiel Bet-Tamraz, son of pastor Victor Bet-Tamraz and Shamiram Issavi, has been sentenced to four months’ imprisonment for engaging in Christian activities. Christian convert Amir-Saman Dashti and another, who was arrested alongside him in August 2016, received the same sentence, as did another Christian who cannot be named. The sentences were pronounced by Judge Mashallah Ahmadzadeh at a Tehran Revolutionary Court on 18 June. The court has refused to provide a copy of the verdict to the Christians’ lawyers. Recently, this illegal practice has been observed in some branches of the Revolutionary Court. Ramiel and were arrested, without explanation, on 26 August, 2016, along with a group of other Christians at a private residence in Firoozkooh. Also arrested that day were Hadi Asgari and Mohammad Dehnavi, as well as Amin Afshar-Naderi, who was beaten up for protesting against the unwarranted arrests. Ramiel, who has been released owing to time already served, is the third member of his family to be given a jail sentence for participating in peaceful Christian activities. His father, Victor, was sentenced in last year to 10 years in prison, and his mother was given a five-year sentence in January. On 27 June, Ramiel’s sister, Dabrina, complained about rights violations against Iranian Christians, including her family, at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. Her parents, Victor Bet-Tamraz and Shamiram Issavi, were the official leaders of Assyrian Pentecostal Church of Shahrara in Tehran before it was forcibly closed in March 2009. With the pressure of officials from the Ministry of Intelligence and the intervention of Yonathan Betkolia, the Assyrian parliamentary representative, the pastor was removed from the leadership of the church and the church was forced to halt all meetings in Persian. “Contrary to the Iranian government’s claims, the Iranian Christian community faces religious persecution and organised and structural discrimination,” according to Article18 spokesman Kiaa Aalipour. “The number of Christian converts has increased dramatically in the last four decades, and this has caused concern among those in power in Iran. So they have imposed many restrictions, including banning the presence of Christian converts in the church, violating freedom of worship and association, closing the only Christian Bible publishing centre in Persian, arresting, imprisoning and even killing Christian leaders, and many other things.
Daughter of convicted pastor speaks out at UN 27 June 2018 News (World Evangelical Alliance) Today the daughter of an Iranian pastor sentenced to ten years in prison has spoken out at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. Dabrina Bet-Tamraz, whose father Victor was sentenced in July last year and whose mother, Shamiram, was in January given a five-year sentence of her own, said the allegations against her parents were “false” and “a grave injustice”. Dabrina’s brother, Ramiel, is also facing charges and is currently out on bail. Her parents were convicted of acting against national security by “establishing and managing churches, attending Christian seminars abroad and training Christian leaders in Iran for ‘spying’”. But Dabrina told the council: “There are many Iranian Christians today serving sentences for similar, baseless accusations. This is wrong. And these court cases must stop. “Iranian Christians are not terrorists, as my father said in his last court hearing, and I repeat: ‘We love our country. We pray for our authorities. We have no intentions against the government’.” Dabrina was representing the World Evangelical Alliance, which has called on the Iranian government to provide religious freedom for its citizens and to halt false accusations against Christians. Victor and Shamiram were the official leaders of the Assyrian Pentecostal Church of Shahrara in Tehran before it was forcibly closed in March 2009. With the pressure of officials from the Ministry of Intelligence and the intervention of Yonathan Betkolia – the Assyrian representative of the Islamic Consultative Assembly – the pastor was removed from the leadership of the church and the church was forced to halt all meetings in Farsi and ban all non-Assyrian members. Contrary to the claims of the Iranian government, Iran’s Christians face religious persecution and organised and structural discrimination. Over the past four decades, the number of Christian converts has increased dramatically, which has been a source of concern for power-holders in Iran. Hence, they have imposed a number of limitations, including banning Christian converts from attending churches, the closure of the only Bible-publication centre, and the arrest, imprisonment and even murder of Christian leaders.