Ordinary Christian acts such as praying, performing baptisms, taking Communion and celebrating Christmas have been cited as evidence of alleged crimes in the indictment against five Christians charged with “gathering and collusion” and “propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran”.

The five include former prisoners of conscience Joseph Shahbazian and Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh, and the indictment also refers to the Bible as a “prohibited book”.

Joseph’s wife, Lida, Christian convert Aida Najaflou and another convert who cannot be named are the other three Christians named in the 26-page indictment by the Evin Prosecutor’s Office, dated 10 June.

Aida faces two additional charges – “propaganda activity against the Islamic Republic of Iran in the cyberspace” and “propaganda in favour of groups or organisations opposed to the Islamic Republic of Iran” – due to allegedly posting on social media in support of the “Women, Life, Freedom” protests and against the former leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah.

The Christians will be tried at Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran, under infamous judge Abolqasem Salavati, at an unknown future date.

Joseph, Nasser and Aida have been in Evin Prison since their arrest in February, with Nasser and Aida unable to afford the bail set for them, while Joseph has yet to be set any bail amount.

Lida, who was arrested in the days before Joseph’s mother’s funeral in April, was released on bail equivalent to $50,000 a month later. The other convert, who was also arrested in February, is also now out on bail.

The indictment, signed by Prosecutor Mojtaba Jaberian, begins by quoting the infamous speech by Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, 15 years ago, when he identified the “promotion of house-churches … by the enemies of Islam” among the “critical threats” facing the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Article18’s director, Mansour Borji, commented: “It is shocking to see in black and white how the officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran clearly perceive ordinary Christian activities to be acts ‘against Iran’s security’, even against the advice of Iran’s own Supreme Court.

“Meanwhile, holding these peaceful Christians for so long without any charge is a clear example of the manufacturing of a crime, as the intelligence agencies – in this case the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – clearly had no evidence against them and then spent months scrabbling around, seeking evidence against them, only to in the end fall back upon charges similar to those for which two of these Christians already spent years in prison and were later pardoned.”