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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, 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.”

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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

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.

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.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has cited Iran among the main contributing countries towards an “ongoing downward trend” in religious liberty worldwide and called on the Trump administration to prioritise the release of religious prisoners and assist in resettling refugees fleeing persecution.

“Sadly, religious-freedom conditions deteriorated in many countries in 2017, often due to increasing authoritarianism or under the guise of countering terrorism,” said USCIRF Chairman Daniel Mark as the independent watchdog issued its 2018 report on Wednesday (25 April).

“Yet there is also reason for optimism 20 years after the passage of the International Religious Freedom Act. The importance of this foundational right is appreciated more now than ever, and egregious violations are less likely to go unnoticed.”

The commission asked the State Department to re-designate 10 nations, including Iran, as “countries of particular concern”, or CPCs, for “egregious” religious-freedom violations. Iran has maintained CPC designation under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) since 1999.

The report noted: “In the past year, religious freedom in Iran continued to deteriorate for both recognised and unrecognised religious groups, with the government targeting Baha’is and Christian converts in particular.”

It also reiterated that “evangelical Christians and Christian converts, however, are particularly targeted for repression because many conduct services in Persian and proselytise to those outside their community. Pastors of ‘house churches’ are commonly charged with unfounded national security-related crimes, as well as apostasy and illegal house-church activities”.

In their report, the commissioners call on the Trump administration to prioritise the release of people “imprisoned for their religious beliefs, activity, identity, or religious-freedom advocacy” and the resettlement of refugees fleeing religious persecution.

According to the report, violations of religious freedom included a range of severe abuses – from surveillance and legal restrictions, to arbitrary arrest, detention of Christians and the proliferation of anti-Christian publications in Iran.

“While Iranian authorities have for decades raided ‘house-church’ services and arrested hundreds of worshippers and church leaders, the severity of sentencing has increased in recent years,” the report noted.