Morteza (Calvin) Faghanpour Sassi, a Christian convert from Varamin, began serving his prison sentence this week after being handed nearly nine years in prison on charges linked to his religious activities and online expression. Human rights sources report that he was subjected to torture during six months of pre-trial detention in Tehran’s Evin Prison.

Mortezai was one of at least seven Christian converts arrested in June 2024 in the cities of Varamin and Pishva. Five of them were later sentenced by Branch 1 of the Varamin Revolutionary Court in July 2025. Morteza received a total sentence of eight years and eleven months — seven years and six months for “propaganda against Islam through communication with foreign entities,” and seventeen months for “insulting the Supreme Leader” in social media posts.

According to Article18 sources, the charges against him included “illegal distribution of Christian literature,” “enrolment in online foreign theological programs,” and posting a caricature deemed offensive to Iran’s Supreme Leader. He was arrested on June 12, 2024, while at work, and security forces later raided his home, confiscating Bibles, evangelistic booklets, his mobile phone, and Christian images displayed on the walls.

During his detention, he spent 20 days in Ward 209 of Evin Prison — operated by the Ministry of Intelligence — where he was reportedly tortured. He was held another month in Ward 240 and then transferred to Ward 8 for four months after being unable to post bail.

Morteza is the second of the five converts whose verdict has been publicly disclosed. Earlier, Hesameddin (Yahya) Jenidi, a 45-year-old Christian convert, was sentenced to eight years and one month on similar charges of “propaganda against Islam” and “acting against the regime.”

Reports indicate that some of the converts have been pressured to renounce their faith in exchange for reduced sentences.

Judge Ashkan Ramesh of the Varamin Revolutionary Court convicted Morteza under Articles 500, 500 bis, and 514 of the Islamic Penal Code — provisions frequently used to criminalise peaceful religious activity and dissent.

The United Nations and multiple human rights organisations have repeatedly condemned Article 500 and related statutes for being used to target religious minorities, particularly Christian converts. They have called on Iran to repeal or reform these vague and discriminatory laws that equate peaceful religious practice with national security offences.