Aziz Majidzadeh released on bail from Evin Prison 10 May 2018 News Christian convert Aziz Majidzadeh was today released on bail from Evin Prison, pending the formation of formal charges against him. Aziz was arrested on 2 March at a gathering of Christians at a friend’s workshop near Karaj. About 20 Christians were detained and interrogated following a raid by security forces, who took down the Christians’ personal details and seized some of their personal belongings, including mobile phones and laptops, and made the Christians sign forms. Most of the Christians were released during the next few days, but Aziz was detained in Tehran’s Evin Prison. Aziz is 54 years old and lives in Tehran with his wife and two children. Christians who are arrested for participating in these so-called “house churches” are often faced with charges of acting against national security. Critics say the allegations are designed to reduce suspicions among the international community that religious freedom is being violated by the ruling regime in Iran. Recently, Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s statements about there being religious freedom in Iran were met with derision from social activists. This is not the first time an Iranian official has claimed that religious minorities, especially Christians, enjoy “full freedom” in the country. However, the reality is that Christians, especially converts, are experiencing increasing pressure through arbitrary arrests, heavy prison sentences and exile, denial of education to children from Christian families, and pressure on the families of Christians living abroad.
‘Baseless’ accusations against entire Assyrian Christian family at appeal hearing 9 May 2018 News Shamiram Issavi’s first appeal hearing against her five-year jail sentence took place today in Tehran. During the hearing, the prosecutor’s representative reportedly accused the entire family of this Assyrian-speaking Christian of activities against the regime on “baseless” charges. Shamiram’s husband, Victor, was last year sentenced to 10 years in prison, and their son, Ramiel, is currently awaiting the verdict of his own trial. Shamiram and Victor’s daughter, Dabrina, who now lives in Europe, told Article18: “At this hearing, the judge was respectful, but only accepted the written defence written by the lawyer and did not ask or answer any questions from my mother. The prosecutor’s representative responded to the lawyer’s defence in writing.” She added: “The judge will issue a verdict after reading this defence.” Judge Hassan Babaee has postponed the final verdict until the next court hearing, though the date of that hearing has not yet been communicated to Shamiram or her lawyer. Shamiram was first summoned to the Revolutionary Court in June last year and released on bail after paying 100 million tomans (around $30,000). Then on 6 January, the Revolutionary Court, chaired by Judge Mashallah Ahmadzadeh, sentenced Shamiram to five years in prison for “acting against national security by participating in house churches in Iran and Christian seminars abroad, as well as teaching Christian leaders in Iran how to spy. Article18’s advocacy director, Mansour Borji, commented: “Over the years, the security services have made great efforts to expel Christian leaders and activists from Iran by exerting extrajudicial pressure and making false accusations through the Revolutionary Courts. They have tried to control or eliminate Persian-speaking Christianity under seemingly legal cover. “When Ayatollah Khamenei [in October 2010] described the ‘network of house-churches’ as a threat to the pillars of the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Revolutionary Courts interpreted participation in or membership in these churches as ‘acting against national security’.” Background Shamiram’s husband, Victor Bet-Tamraz, a well-known Assyrian pastor, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in July 2017, alongside three of his church members – all converts – for “acting against national security by organising and conducting house churches and Christian evangelism”. The first appeal hearing in his case was held on 25 April. Their son, Ramiel, also faces similar charges and is currently on bail. Victor Bet-Tamraz led 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 Persian and ban all non-Assyrian members. The incident marked the beginning of a period of widespread restrictions and closures of Persian-language churches by security officials across the country. The pastor was first arrested as he celebrated Christmas with a group of converts on 26 December 2014. He was taken to Evin Prison and placed in solitary confinement, before being released on bail 65 days later. Timeline 26 December 2014 – Arrests of Christians participating in Christmas celebration at the home of pastor Victor Bet-Tamraz (Amin Afshar-Naderi, and Kavian Fallah-Mohammadi among the detainees). 26 August 2016 – Arrest of seven Christians in Firoozkooh (Hadi Asgari, Amin Afshar-Naderi, and Ramiel Bet-Tamraz among those detained). 19 June 2017 – Shamiram Issavi receives summons to Branch 3 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, where the charges against her are read out, before she is released on bail equivalent to around $30,000. 11 July 2017 – Pastor Victor Bet-Tamraz and converts Hadi Asgari, Kavian Fallah-Mohammadi and Amin Afshar-Naderi sentenced to a combined total of 45 years in prison. 6 January 2018 – Shamiram Issavi sentenced to five years in prison. 25 April 2018 – First appeal hearing at the Revolutionary Court in Tehran for Rev. Victor Bet-Tamraz, Hadi Asgari, Kavian Fallah-Mohammadi, and Amin Afshar-Naderi, who were sentenced to a combined total of 45 years in prison. 9 May 2018 – First appeal hearing for Shamiram Issavi at the Revolutionary Court.
First appeal hearing for pastor and three converts 25 April 2018 News Left to right: Victor Bet-Tamraz, Amin Afshar-Naderi, Kavian Fallah-Mohammadi, and Hadi Asgari. Reverend Victor Bet-Tamraz and converts Hadi Asgari, Kavian Fallah-Mohammadi and Amin Afshar-Naderi, sentenced to a combined 45 years in prison, had their first appeal hearing today in Tehran. The Appeals Court was headed by Judge Hassan Babaee, who heard the case for the defence. Three of the defendants were present – all except Kavian Fallah-Mohammadi. The judge postponed the final verdict until the next session of the court, but the date of that hearing has not yet been communicated to the four Christians. Background On 11 July 2017, Judge Ahmadzadeh of the Revolutionary Court condemned Reverend Victor Bet-Tamraz, and converts Hadi Asgari, Kavian Fallah-Mohammadi and Amin Afshar-Naderi to a total of 45 years in prison for “acting against national security by organising and conducting house churches and Christian evangelism”. All four Christians were also sentenced to two years in exile at the conclusion of their prison terms. Amin Afshar-Naderi was sentenced to an additional five years in prison for “insulting the sacred” (blasphemy against Islam). Amin Afshar-Naderi and Kavian Fallah-Mohammadi were first arrested on 26 December, 2014, as they celebrated Christmas at the home of their pastor, Victor Bet-Tamraz. Hadi Asgari did not attend the Christmas celebration but was arrested on 26 August, 2016, along with several other Christians, including Amin Afshar-Naderi, during a raid on a private garden in Firoozkooh, near Tehran. Also arrested that day were Victor Bet-Tamraz’s son, Ramiel, Mohammad Dehnavi and Amir-Saman Dashti, who were all released on bail three months later. But Amin Afshar-Naderi and Hadi Asgari were detained for significantly longer – 11 months and 19 months, respectively – before being released on bail. Victor Bet-Tamraz led 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 Persian and ban all non-Assyrian members. The incident marked the beginning of a period of widespread restrictions and closures of Persian-language churches by security officials across the country. Timeline 26 December 2014 – Arrests of Christians participating in Christmas celebration at the home of pastor Victor Bet-Tamraz (Amin Afshar-Naderi, and Kavian Fallah-Mohammadi among the detainees). 26 August 2016 – Arrest of seven Christians in Firoozkooh (Hadi Asgari, Amin Afshar-Naderi, and Ramiel Bet-Tamraz among those detained). 19 June 2017 – Shamiram Issavi receives summons to Branch 3 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, where the charges against her are read out, before she is released on bail equivalent to around $30,000. 11 July 2017 – Pastor Victor Bet-Tamraz and converts Hadi Asgari, Kavian Fallah-Mohammadi and Amin Afshar-Naderi sentenced to a combined total of 45 years in prison. 6 January 2018 – Shamiram Issavi sentenced to five years in prison. 25 April 2018 – First appeal hearing at the Revolutionary Court in Tehran for Rev. Victor Bet-Tamraz, Hadi Asgari, Kavian Fallah-Mohammadi, and Amin Afshar-Naderi, who were sentenced to a combined total of 45 years in prison.
Arrest and continued detention of Christian convert Aziz Majidzadeh 11 April 2018 News According to Article18’s sources, Christian convert Aziz Majidzadeh is still being detained, 40 days after his arrest near the city of Karaj. Reports indicate that he was arrested at a friend’s workshop, where a number of Christians had gathered, on the night of 2 March. In addition to arresting about 20 Christians, security agents seized some of their personal belongings, including mobile phones and laptops. After the initial interrogations, most of those arrested were released, but Aziz remains in detention, though there has been no news of where he is being held. Aziz is 54 years old and lives in Tehran with his wife and two children. Arbitrary arrests and the issuance of unfair sentences against Iranian Christians for attending religious ceremonies at private residences – known as “house churches” – have become commonplace, despite a recent warning to the Iranian government by four UN human rights experts. Independent experts have also confirmed that Christians in Iran face severe discrimination, especially those from a Muslim background who have converted.
Hadi Asgari released on bail after 19 months’ detention 11 April 2018 News Christian convert Hadi Asgari was released from Tehran’s Evin Prison on bail today, 19 months after his arrest. His bail had been set at the lofty sum of 170 million tomans (around $50,000) and, when eventually friends helped him to raise the money, it was further delayed by judges on several occasions. His previous appeal for bail took place just before the Nowruz holidays, when officials ordered the decision to be postponed for another month. Hadi was therefore denied the chance to spend time with his family during Nowruz. Hadi was sentenced by Judge Mashallah Ahmadzadeh to 10 years in prison at Branch 26 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Tehran on 3 July, 2017, for “acting against national security by establishing churches and promoting Christianity”. He was also banned from leaving the country for at least two years after his release. Hadi had been on hunger strike along with his fellow Christian prisoner, Amin Afshar-Naderi, to plead for progress in their cases. Amin Afshar-Naderi, who has been sentenced to 15 years in prison, is also currently out on bail. The two Christians were arrested on 26 August 2016, along with three others, at a gathering of Christians in Firoozkooh, and spent 82 days in solitary confinement in Section 209 of Evin Prison. They were then transferred to Ward 4. The issuance of heavy prison sentences because of the “formation of churches and the propagation of Christianity” comes despite the recent claims of Ayatollah Khamenei that: “There is freedom of speech, there is freedom of choice, and no one is pressured, persecuted or threatened because their thoughts and opinions are against the government’s views.” Arbitrary arrests and repression of the activities of Persian-speaking Christians, despite the Rouhani government’s insistence on the need to abide by civil rights, have continued. National security-related charges against Christians accompanied by the anti-Christian rhetoric of some government officials have exacerbated the situation.
Revolutionary Court denies Christian bail 29 March 2018 News Nineteen months since the arrest of Hadi Asgari, judicial authorities are still refusing to allow him to go out on bail until his appeal hearing. One of Hadi’s relatives, whose identity is being withheld for security reasons, told Article18: “Hadi had not been able to secure the large bail amount of 170 million tomans [$40,000] until recently, due to a lack of financial resources. Now that this problem has been fixed and the bail has been thoroughly prepared, the judge has postponed the bailout process for various reasons.” Hadi last appealed for bail just before the Nowruz holidays, but officials ordered that the decision be postponed for another month, so Hadi was deprived of the chance to be with his family for the New Year celebrations. Hadi was sentenced to 10 years in prison at Branch 26 of the Islamic Revolutionary Tribunal of Tehran on 3 July 2017, when Judge Mashallah Ahmadzadeh convicted him of “acting against national security by establishing churches and promoting Christianity”. He was also banned from leaving the country for two years after his release. Hadi went on hunger strike for two weeks in February, alongside his fellow Christian detainee, Amin Afshar-Naderi, who has been sentenced to 15 years in prison, complaining about how their cases had been handled. Amin is currently out on bail. Hadi and Amin were arrested on 26 August, 2016, along with three others, at a retreat in Firoozkooh, and spent 82 days in solitary confinement in Section 209 of Evin Prison. He was then transferred to Section 4. Despite claims by the government of Hassan Rouhani that all Iranians enjoy full religious freedom, arbitrary arrests, repression and pressure on Persian-speaking Christians have continued and in fact accelerated, with a new wave of violence and heavy sentences against Iranian Christians in the past year.
‘If you want people to stop converting, stop oppressing them’ 26 March 2018 Analysis The best way to halt the mass conversions of Iranian Muslims to Christianity is to stop oppressing them, says a Turkish Muslim author. “If [the Iranian regime] want[s] to avert more apostasy from Islam, they should consider oppressing their people less, rather than more, for their very oppression is itself the source of the escape from Islam,” writes Mustafa Akyol, in an opinion piece for the New York Times. He says he is offering the Iranian regime this “great idea” as a “Muslim who is not happy to see my coreligionists leave the faith”. Akyol is responding to recent articles by Mohabat News and CBN claiming that Christianity is growing in Iran – faster than in any other country in the world, according to CBN – despite the regular targeting and imprisonment of Christians. Akyol notes that while the exact number of converts is hard to pinpoint, “the trend seems strong enough to worry Iran’s religious establishment – and make it turn to a solution it knows well: oppression”. But Akyol says the result has been only to increase the “disillusionment” of Iranians with the Islamic Republic and, in many cases, with Islam as well. “Of course, as in every human affair, motivations for losing faith in Islam are complex and vary from individual to individual. But suffering from the oppression or violence perpetrated in the name of religion is cited very often,” he writes. He says “authoritarianism at the communal level is also similarly self-defeating”, and that the trend of people leaving Islam due to “authoritarianism, violence, bigotry and patriarchy” has also been seen in Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh and Malaysia. Akyol concludes that Muslim leaders today need to realise that modern society is no longer patriarchal, hierarchical and communitarian, and that with the increase of liberal values like free speech, open debate and individual freedom, “questions cannot be answered by platitudes, and ideas cannot be shut down by crude dictates”. He says Islam must “put at end to religious violence, bigotry and dictatorship” and employ the same reason used by medieval Muslim theologians and philosophers, who “wrestled with foreign ideas … rather than banning them”.
EIKO confiscates church property in Karaj 9 March 2018 News A church retreat centre in Karaj has been told that it will be confiscated tomorrow by the Executive Headquarters of Iman’s Directive (EIKO), which is under the direct stewardship of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The ruling by the Third Branch of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran was initially passed in July 2015, but it has taken three years to be enacted. The Sharon Garden, located in the Valad Abad area of Karaj, has belonged to the Iranian Assemblies of God denomination since the early 1970s. The 10,000-square-metre plot, with a value of nearly $3million, was purchased with donations from church members. It has been used for children’s camps and family retreats. The ruling issued by the Revolutionary Court stated that “the council is one of the branches of the American Philadelphia Church, which is funded by the United States and by the CIA spy agency to infiltrate the countries of the Islamic world, especially Iran, and engage in evangelical activities”. Article18’s advocacy director, Mansour Borji, says the confiscation is part of a trend, as Iranian authorities seek to “eliminate Protestant and evangelical Christians from the social scene of Iran”. Following the announcement of the Revolutionary Court’s verdict, Borji told BBC Radio 4: “The ultimate goal of the campaign is to render Protestant and Evangelical churches, with more than 630 million adherents worldwide, as an outsider cult with no official recognition in Iran. He added that now “every church leader, every church member will be quite frightened because of the prospects of prison and being labelled as collaborators with the ‘enemy’”. Mansour Borji from @articleeighteen on the seizure of church property from @AG_USA in #Iran @CSW_UK https://t.co/M7ec7fzflg— BBC Radio 4 Sunday (@BBCR4Sunday) December 11, 2016 Christians are an officially recognised religious minority in Iran, but in recent years both clerics and government officials have made numerous derogatory statements against Protestants. British MP Tobias Ellwood said in a statement to parliament: The UK regularly raises human rights cases with the Iranian government, including the continued persecution of religious minorities. We are aware of restrictions on translating Christian texts in Iran. We condemn these restrictions alongside reports of Christian property being seized and reports of theological schools being closed. We call on Iran to cease harassment of all religious minorities and to fulfil its international and domestic obligations to allow freedom of religion to all Iranians.” The Assemblies of God was established prior to the Islamic Revolution and was reinstated as a recognised religious institution a year after the revolution. Edward Hovsepian, the former superintendent of the AoG in Iran, told Article18: “The Assemblies of God in Iran has not had any association with American congregations in any period of its history, whether before or after the revolution, and has always been independent of it. Our partnership with other AoG churches around the world was only in shared religious beliefs.” The General Superintendent of the global AoG, George Wood, said in a statement: The 68 million worldwide adherents of The General Council of the Assemblies of God wish to express dismay at the recent confiscation of campground and garden property from the Iran Assemblies of God. We hereby request the return of the property to its legal owner.”
Christian prisoner denied treatment and in danger of losing all his teeth 6 March 2018 News Iranian Christian prisoner Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh needs immediate dental treatment, but officials in Tehran’s Evin Prison are refusing to allow him to receive it, despite him being in serious pain, Article18 understands. A source close to him told Article18: “If it is delayed, Nasser is in danger of losing his teeth completely.” Nasser is currently serving a ten-year sentence in Ward 8 of Evin Prison for “acting against national security through the establishment of ‘house churches’”. He was first arrested in June 2016, alongside three Azerbaijanis, at a private gathering in Tehran. 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). Branch 26 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran, chaired by Judge Mashallah Ahmadzadeh, sentenced them to 10 years’ imprisonment in May 2017. However, the Azerbaijanis had returned to their homes and families after their release on bail and will not be forced to return to Iran to serve their sentences. But on 20 January 2018, after three months on bail, Nasser was taken to Evin Prison to begin his sentence. Nasser’s appeal against the sentence was rejected by Judge Hassan Babaei at a Tehran Court of Appeal in November 2017. The judge referred to the Ministry of Intelligence in the course of the trial. However, neither Nasser nor his lawyer were allowed access to the documents and reports cited by the prosecution. Iran is 10th on Open Doors International’s World Watch List of the 50 countries where it’s hardest to be a Christian. Unlike in many neighbouring countries, Christians in Iran tend to have very positive relationships with members of other faiths, but they suffer frequent and gross violations of their rights from the authorities – particularly those who, like Nasser, are from a Muslim background.
Iranian Christians’ appeal hearing postponed 5 February 2018 News Left to right: Victor Bet-Tamraz, Amin Afshar-Naderi, Kavian Fallah-Mohammadi, and Hadi Asgari. Yesterday’s appeal hearing for Iranian-Assyrian pastor Victor Bet-Tamraz and Christian converts Amin Afshar-Naderi, Hadi Asgari and Kavian Fallah-Mohammadi was postponed following a car accident involving two of the Christians’ lawyers and the failure of some of the defendants to appear in court. No date has been set for when the hearing may now take place. The four Christians were sentenced in July last year to 10 years in prison for “action against national security by organising and conducting house-churches”, while Amin was given an additional five-year sentence for “insulting the sacred” (blasphemy). They were also banned from travelling abroad for two years. Just two days before the scheduled appeal hearing, four independent UN human rights rapporteurs called on the Iranian authorities to ensure a “fair and transparent final hearing” for the Christians, and warned of the “severe discrimination and religious persecution” facing members of Iran’s Christian community, “particularly those who have converted to the faith”. Of the four Christians, only Hadi Asgari is currently in detention, having been unable to afford the substantial bail set for him of 170 million tomans (equivalent to around $45,000). Hadi has been in prison for nearly a year and a half now, since his arrest in August 2016 alongside Amin and three other Christians, including pastor Victor’s son Ramiel, at a private garden in Firoozkooh, east of Tehran. Three of the Christians were released on bail after a couple of months, but Amin remained in Evin Prison until July 2017, and Hadi is still there. Both Hadi and Amin undertook hunger strikes to protest against the mishandling of their case. However, there is now hope that the appeals court judge will soon sanction his temporary release. Amin, Kavian and pastor Victor were first arrested as they celebrated Christmas together at the Bet-Tamraz home in December 2014. Amin was then re-arrested at the Firoozkooh gathering, alongside Hadi, Ramiel and two other Christian converts, Amir-Saman Dashti and Mohammad Dehnavi.