Seven Christian Citizens Sentenced to a Total of 28 Years Imprisonment and Fines
Joseph Shahbazian, Salar Eshragh Moghaddam, Farhad Khazaei, Samia Sadeghi, Massoumeh Ghassemi, Mina Khajavi Ghomi, and Maliha Nazari were sentenced by Branch 26 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court to a combined total of 28 years imprisonment, fines, deprivation of social rights, and travel bans.
According to Hrana news agency, the news organ of the Iranian Human Rights Activists Network, seven Christian citizens were sentenced to imprisonment by the Revolutionary Court.
Based on a notification issued on Tuesday, June 7, 2022, by Branch 26 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court presided over by Judge Iman Afshari and communicated to Iman Soleimani, the defense attorney for several of these citizens, Joseph Shahbazian was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, deprivation of social rights, travel ban, ban on membership in groups and organizations, and exile. Additionally, Mina Khajavi and Maliha Nazari were each sentenced to 6 years imprisonment, Massoumeh Ghassemi and Farhad Khazaei were each sentenced to 1 year imprisonment. Salar Eshragh Moghaddam and Samia Sadeghi were each sentenced to 4 years imprisonment. Ms. Sadeghi’s sentence was converted to a fine of 40 million tomans.
These citizens were accused of charges including “forming illegal groups with the aim of disrupting national security, actions against national security through evangelical Christian propaganda and establishing house churches.”
The court hearing regarding the charges against these Christian citizens was held on May 29, 2021, at Branch 26 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court.
Among these citizens, Joseph Shahbazian, a 57-year-old of Armenian descent, was arrested in June 2020 along with several Christian believers during a religious ceremony in the Yaft Abad area of Tehran. In August of that year, Mr. Shahbazian was temporarily released on a bail of 2 billion tomans. Samia Sadeghi and Mina Khajavi Ghomi were also arrested and later temporarily released on bail.
Additionally, Massoumeh Ghassemi, a Christian citizen and mother of Samia (Sonya) Sadeghi, was previously arrested on July 2, 2020, when she went to Evin Prison’s prosecutor’s office one day after her daughter’s arrest to inquire about her condition, and was transferred to a detention facility of a security organization in the prison. These two Christian believers were temporarily released on July 10 on bail, pending the completion of legal proceedings.
Maliha Nazari, a Christian believer, was previously arrested on June 30, 2020, by security forces at her home in Tehran and on July 21, following her inability to pay bail, was transferred from Evin Prison to Qarchak Prison in Varamin. She was ultimately temporarily released on bail in early September 2020, pending the completion of legal proceedings, from Qarchak Prison in Varamin.
Source: Hrana
