by Steve Dew-Jones | 23 Apr 2024 | News
Sixty-year-old Christian prisoner of conscience Mina Khajavi is reported to be struggling with pain and unable to access the medical care she requires inside Tehran’s Evin Prison. The Christian convert, who has arthritis and walks with a limp, is serving a six-year...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 18 Apr 2024 | News
Three prisoners of conscience convicted on charges related to Christianity have been sponsored by German politicians. Mina Khajavi, Mehdi (Yasser) Akbari and Abdolreza (Matthias) Ali-Haghnejad, who are serving a combined 22 years in prison as a result of their...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 26 Mar 2024 | News
A Christian convert who was baptised in a church in Malaysia has been sentenced to two years in prison in Iran for “acting against national security by connecting with ‘Zionist’ Christian organisations”. Laleh Saati, who is 45 years old, returned to Iran in 2017,...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 18 Mar 2024 | News
Article18 has today joined over 40 other human rights groups in calling for the renewal of the mandates of the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran and Fact-Finding Mission.* In a letter sent today to all member states at the Human Rights Council in Geneva,...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 5 Mar 2024 | News
UN Special Rapporteur Javaid Rehman has told the Islamic Republic of Iran to “end the criminalisation of the peaceful expression of faith” and “refrain from persecuting peaceful religious gatherings in private homes and other premises”. “In many cases, members of...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 4 Mar 2024 | News
A house-church member in a city near Tehran has been charged with “teaching activities that educate in a deviant way contrary to the holy religion of Islam, through making false religious claims”. Hossein Sha’bani, who is 47 years old and known as Youhana, was...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 1 Mar 2024 | News
EU countries have been told they cannot automatically reject asylum claims based on professed conversions to Christianity, even if the conversion took place after the individual left their country of origin. The new ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ),...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 28 Feb 2024 | Features
Esmaeil Maghrebinezhad is pensive as he relates the story of his conversion to Christianity in the early days of the Islamic Republic and the knock-on effects this decision had on every aspect of his life. “My whole life was affected by persecution and harassment due...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 28 Feb 2024 | Witness Statements
For a summary of Esmaeil’s story, you can read our feature article here. Introduction 1. My name is Esmaeil Maghrebinezhad and I was born in 1954 in Tehran. I grew up in a traditional Muslim family of Sayyids [descendants of Muhammad]. I remember my mother praying,...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 27 Feb 2024 | News
A Christian convert detained for three weeks, following his arrest by Ministry of Intelligence agents, has been released on bail equivalent to nearly $40,000, according to an Iranian Christian news agency. Iman Golzar was released on 7 February on bail of 2 billions...
