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Rasoul Abdollahi, a Christian prisoner of conscience, has been granted conditional release from Ward 10 of Rajaei Shahr Prison in Karaj after 15 months’ detention.

Conditional release is granted to Christian prisoners who, after serving half their sentences, agree to refrain from attending any Christian meetings. If they are found to have broken the terms of their release, they will be returned to prison to serve the remainder of their sentences.

Rasoul was first arrested in the winter of 2010, along with a large number of Christians across Iran. He then was released on bail in March 2011, and eventually sentenced to three years’ imprisonment on charges of “gathering, colluding and promoting Christianity”. He began serving his sentence in December 2013.

Dozens of other Christians were arrested in December 2010, including Farshid Fathi, who was recently given an additional year in prison on top of his initial six-year sentence.

Rasoul began his sentence in Ward 350 of Evin Prison, alongside Farshid. However, on 8 October 2014, he and seven other prisoners of conscience, including Ebrahim Firouzi and Alireza Seyyedian, were transferred without notice to Rajaei Shahr Prison in Karaj.

Christian convert Vahid Hakani has been conditionally released from Adel Abad Prison in Shiraz after nearly three years’ detention.

He was released on Monday, 26 January, after providing a written commitment to the Ministry of Intelligence that he will refrain from participating in Christian gatherings and house-churches. 

In Iran, first-time prisoners can be granted early release if they are have served over half of their term of imprisonment, though they can be called back to prison at any time should they be found to have breached the conditions of their release.

Vahid was arrested alongside three fellow converts, Mojtaba Hosseini, Esmail (Homayoun) Shekoohi and Mohammad Reza (Koroush) Partovi, on 8 February 2012, at a “house church” in Shiraz. 

A Revolutionary Court sentenced the four men on 10 June 2013 to three years and eight months each in prison for “participation in house-church meetings, propagating and spreading Christianity, connection with Christian organisations abroad, propaganda against the regime, and disrupting national security”.

Previously, judicial authorities had repeatedly opposed the early release of the four converts.

In protest at this, and at poor prison conditions, including denial of medical care, Vahid undertook two hunger strikes.

His second hunger strike lasted for seven weeks, during which his health deteriorated greatly.

In recent years, many Muslim-born Iranians who have converted to Christianity or those who have led others to convert have been arrested and jailed, then charged with actions against national security – a ruse to reduce international outcry at charges actually related to their religious beliefs and activities.

Ahmed Shaheed, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, in his latest report, expressed concern over violations of freedom of religion or belief and the current detention of at least 50 Iranian Christians.

Iranian officials have denounced his reports as “biased” and “inaccurate”, but at the same time they have denied him permission to visit the country to investigate.

What is conditional release?

Conditional release is an opportunity given to imprisoned convicts before the end of their sentence to enjoy absolute freedom if they show good behaviour within a period determined by the court and execute court orders in a timely manner. According to Article 38 of the Islamic Penal Code, parole can be granted to those serving their first prison sentences after half of their sentence. In this case, the court issuing the final sentence can issue a conditional release, subject to certain conditions.

Pastor Farshid Fathi was sentenced to another year in prison on Monday morning, 29 December, for alleged possession of alcohol.

His sentencing took place at Branch 15 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran, and was presided over by Judge Salavati.

Farshid, who denied the allegations, was already serving a six-year jail sentence for “acting against national security, communicating with foreign organisations and promoting Christianity”.

He was first arrested in December 2010 and has been in prison ever since, being held first in Tehran’s Evin Prison and subsequently Rajaei Shahr Prison in Karaj.

His additional jail term comes just a few months after Farshid was among 30 prisoners of conscience badly beaten by prison guards in Ward 350 of Evin Prison.

At least four prisoners, including Farshid, suffered such serious injuries that they had to be transferred to hospitals outside of the prison.

Farshid was sent to Taleghani Hospital in Tehran on 31 April for treatment on a fractured toe.

The attack was widely condemned by international organisations, but prison authorities denied wrongdoing and sought to pin the blame on the prisoners.

Farshid, who is 35, was first arrested on 26 December 2010, as one of many Christians arrested in raids on house-churches across the country. Many of the others who were arrested were released after promising not to participate in any further Christian activities. However, Farshid would not make any such promise and has been detained ever since.

Pastor Victor Bet-Tamraz, former leader of the Assyrian Pentecostal Church of Tehran (Shahrara), was arrested on Friday, 26 December, along with two of his friends, Amin Afshar-Naderi and Kavian Fallah-Mohammadi, as they celebrated Christmas together.

Ten plainclothes officers, introducing themselves as agents of the Revolutionary Court, entered the pastor’s home and confiscated many personal items, including Bibles, mobile phones and identification documents.

The officers searched all those present, separating men from women, and told them they were participating in an “unlawful and unauthorised gathering”.

The officers then forced them to fill out forms with the insignia of the Ministry of Intelligence, and filmed them as they explained why they had gathered.

After several hours of filming and interrogation, the plainclothes agents arrested Victor, Amin and Kavian, and transferred them to Evin Prison.

“In recent years, the wave of arrests of Christians at Christmas has become routine,” explains Article18’s Advocacy Director, Mansour Borji. “The tendency of Iranians to attend Christmas celebrations together at this time is one of the reasons.”

Victor was dismissed from his post at the Shahrara church in March 2009 because he had held services in Farsi, which were seen to be aimed at attracting Muslims to convert to Christianity.

An appeals court in Karaj has acquitted two members of the “Church of Iran” of the serious crimes of “moharebeh” (waging war against God) and “spreading corruption on Earth”.

Reza Rabbani, known as Silas, and Abdolreza Ali-Haghnejad, known as Matthias, were acquitted on 14 December. They had been charged on 17 September and detained for five and three months, respectively.

Their fellow “Church of Iran” member, Behnam Irani, who is already serving a six-year sentence, had also been threatened with these serious additional charges.

In October 2012, Silas and Matthias were also sentenced to six years in prison for “propagating Christianity”. The court ruled that they should serve their sentences in the southern city of Minab, on the other side of the country to their homes.

However, before the commencement of their sentences, Silas was arrested during a raid on his home in Karaj in May 2014, and Matthias was arrested two months later, alongside two fellow “Church of Iran” members, Mohammad Roghangir and Soroush Saraei, at his home in Bandar Anzali.

It was following these arrests that they were hit with the additional charges of moharebeh and “spreading corruption on Earth”.

Ahvaz members released

Meanwhile, two other “Church of Iran” members have been released after ten months in prison in Ahvaz. 

Hussein Baronzadeh, known as Daniel, and Rahman Bahmani, known as Zia, were arrested in March, along with six others – Amin Khaki, Hossein Etemadifar, Mohammad Bahrami, Salimeh Rahimi, known as Martha, Fatemeh Bagheri and Amineh Moalla – in the city of Shush. 

All of them were transferred to the General Intelligence Office of Khuzestan, located in Ahvaz. Five of them were released a few hours later after making a commitment to have no more involvement in Christian activities, but Daniel, Zia and Amin were transferred to Karun Prison in Ahvaz.

Amin remains there, serving a sentence on charges of “acting against national security”.

A Christian woman prisoner who has been on temporary leave was insulted and strip-searched when she returned to Evin Prison.

Maryam (Nasim) Naghash Zargaran had been out of prison for four days – for the first time in 16 months of imprisonment. When she returned on 12 November, she was forced to take off all of her clothes by one of the female guards.

Nasim is said to have been extremely shaken as a result of the abuse. 

Previously, in September, Nasim was taken to Tehran’s Modarres Hospital due to a heart condition that has worsened during her time in prison.

Nasim, who is 36 years old, was first arrested in January 2013. She was summoned by the Iranian Security Police and held for three days. She was then taken to Evin Prison after preliminary interrogations, and her case was referred to the Islamic Revolutionary Court.

In March 2013, Nasim was sentenced to four years in prison after being convicted in Branch 28 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court, under the chairmanship of Judge Mohammad Moghiseh, of “gathering and collusion against the security of the state”. 

The ruling did not change in the appeal court, and Maryam was taken to Evin Prison to begin her sentence on 15 July 2013.

It should be noted that until now prison authorities have not provided any explanation as to why Nasim was subjected to such an untypical, and humiliating, examination.

Previously, in October 2012, about 20 women from the Evin Prison Guard unit stormed the women’s prison quarters and strip-searched the women, who were political prisoners or prisoners of conscience, while insulting them. Some of the prisoners went on hunger strike in response, and human rights organisations condemned the illegal actions against them.

Security agents arrested three members of the “Church of Iran” denomination in Bandar Anzali on Saturday, 5 July.

The three men were arrested at the home of Abdolreza (Matthias) Ali-Haghnejad, who is a member of the church in Bandar Anzali. The other two, Mohammad Roghangir and Soroush Saraei, belong to the Shiraz branch of the church. 

After their arrest, the three men were taken to an unknown location.

The arrests were carried out by a group of plainclothes agents from the Ministry of Intelligence, who confiscated a number of Abdolreza’s belongings, including his computer, mobile phone, pamphlets, books and Bible.

Abdolreza has been arrested several times for his “house church” activities. 

Meanwhile, both Mohammad and Soroush were among the eight converts arrested in October 2012 and later handed jail sentences of six years and two and a half years, respectively, by the Revolutionary Court in Shiraz. They have been on bail since March 2013.

Behnam Irani is another member of the Church of Iran denomination, who is serving a nearly six-year jail sentence in Ghezel Hesar prison in Karaj. Last month he was transferred to an unknown location for two weeks, where he was subjected to continued interrogation and threats, in spite of his severe ill health. He was returned to prison on 7 June, after several days of continuous interrogation and pressure and threats.

Christian prisoner Vahid Hakani has resumed his hunger strike in Shiraz’s Adel Abad Prison.

He began his hunger strike on 20 March, after judicial authorities denied his request for early release, and to protest against poor conditions in prison.

That hunger strike last for more than seven weeks, until 23 May, despite Vahid suffering acute physical problems as a result. 

But he ended his hunger strike after one of his fellow prisoners of conscience, Mohammed Reza Partovi, was granted conditional release.

Vahid was transferred to the prison’s health centre in the last days of his first hunger strike, due to the deterioration of his physical condition. He was suffering from gastrointestinal bleeding, for which he had already once been hospitalised during his time in prison.

However, during his hunger strike Vahid was subjected to psychological harassment from prison guards, who denied him his right to make phone calls or to receive visits from his family members, and confiscated several of his personal belongings.

According to Mohabat News, Vahid was also separated from the three fellow Christians he was arrested and charged alongside: Mohammed Reza, Mojtaba Hosseini and Homayoun Shekoohi, who were each transferred to different wards. 

The four men were arrested on 8 February 2012 at a “house church” in Shiraz. Several others were initially detained but then released. However, on 10 June 2013, Vahid, Mohammed Reza, Homayoun and Mojtaba were each sentenced to three years and eight months in prison for “promoting Christianity”, “association with Christian organisations abroad”, “propaganda against the state”, and “disrupting national security”.