Over 25 Years Prison Sentence Issued for Christian Citizens ‘Mehran Shamlou’ and ‘Abbas Souri’
“Mehran Shamlou” and “Abbas Souri,” Christian citizens, have been sentenced to a combined 25 years imprisonment by the Revolutionary Court.
Mehran Shamlou, 43, and Abbas Souri are Christian citizens and residents of Tehran who, along with Narges Nasri, were arrested on November 1 by Ministry of Intelligence agents for establishing a home church in Tehran and transferred to the Ministry of Intelligence detention facility known as Ward 209 of Evin Prison. They were released from Evin Prison on December 2 after posting a bail of two billion tomans each.
Their interrogation session was held in December at Branch 2 of Tehran’s General Prosecutor’s Office, and the court hearing regarding their case was held on February 14 at Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court. According to a ruling issued yesterday, March 10, by Judge “Iman Afshari,” head of Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court, Mehran Shamlou and Abbas Souri were convicted on charges of “propaganda activities contrary to Islamic law with connection to foreign entities through effective methods and extensive criminal activity (with one degree increase) and membership in opposition groups in the country, and sentenced to a total of 25 years and 8 months imprisonment, deprivation of social rights for 30 years, and a fine of 580 million tomans.”
The details of the sentences issued against Abbas Souri and Mehran Shamlou are as follows: “Abbas Souri was convicted on charges of propaganda activities contrary to Islamic law to 10 years of punitive imprisonment, deprivation of social rights for 15 years, a fine of 330 million tomans, and on charges of membership in opposition groups in the country, to 5 years imprisonment. He was also additionally sentenced to a ban on leaving the country, a ban on residence in Tehran Province and adjacent provinces, and a ban on membership in social organizations and groups for a period of two years.
Mehran Shamlou was also convicted on charges of propaganda activities contrary to Islamic law to 8 years of punitive imprisonment, a fine of 250 million tomans, deprivation of social rights for 15 years, and on charges of membership in opposition groups in the country to 2 years and 8 months imprisonment.”
The arrest of Christian citizens, issuance of lengthy prison sentences and heavy fines by the Islamic Republic government comes even as the Islamic Republic is a signatory to Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which states that “everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice, and freedom, either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching.”
