A Christian convert serving a sentence of over nine years in Evin Prison has gone on hunger strike to protest against being denied access to a Bible and being threatened with death for apostasy.

Ghazal Marzban, who turned 43 earlier this month in the women’s ward of the Tehran prison, is understood to have refused to eat or drink anything since Saturday.

This is the second time in three months Ghazal has gone on hunger strike, having previously undertaken an 11-day strike in June after being sentenced to nine years and eight months for “propaganda against the state” and “gathering and collusion against national security”.

Article18 understands that Ghazal was told that only Iranians born into Christian families – and not Christian converts – have the right to possess a Bible in prison.

A British woman also held in the prison – believed to be Lindsay Foreman, a traveller who has been detained since January 2025, alongside her husband, Craig – is understood to have requested a Bible on Ghazal’s behalf, but also to have been refused.

A judge is also reported to have ordered Ghazal to sign a letter of repentance and record a video recanting the Christian faith on video, or face capital punishment for apostasy.

Ghazal, who previously spent two months in Evin Prison following a conviction for “propaganda against the regime by chanting slogans”, has been back in prison since being rearrested in January.

The Catholic convert was beaten in July, suffering a fracture of the left hand, and in August published a moving letter reporting a “brutal” rape in a Ministry of Intelligence detention centre after first being arrested in May 2023.