Court Session Held to Address Charges Against Three Christian Believers in Rasht
On Thursday, the 28th of Bahman, a court session was held to review the charges against Ahmad (Yohanna) Sarpardast, Ayoub (Farzin) Pourrezazadeh, and Morteza Hajeb Mashhoud Kari, Christian believers, in the Second Branch of the Revolutionary Court of Rasht.
According to Hrana news agency, the news organ of the Human Rights Activists in Iran organization, on Thursday, the 28th of Bahman 1400, a court session was held to review the charges against Ahmad (Yohanna) Sarpardast, Ayoub (Farzin) Pourrezazadeh, and Morteza Hajeb Mashhoud Kari, Christian converts, in the Revolutionary Court of Rasht.
The session was held in the presence of the defendants and their defense lawyer Iman Soleimani in the Second Branch of the Revolutionary Court of Rasht, presided over by Judge Seyyed Hassan Mousavi, to review charges of propaganda activities against the system and membership in groups opposed to the system.
According to Iman Soleimani, the defense lawyer for these citizens, considering the deficiencies in the case file, including the lack of documentation in the Sepah information report and the conversion of a Sepah information administrative memorandum into an indictment, and the absence of a prosecutor’s representative to defend the indictment and other defenses based on raised objections, it was decided that the case would be referred back to the prosecutor’s office to remedy the deficiencies.
Previously, Hrana had reported on the referral of the case of these three Christian believers to the Revolutionary Court of Rasht.
Ahmad (Yohanna) Sarpardast, Ayoub (Farzin) Pourrezazadeh, and Morteza Hajeb Mashhoud Kari were arrested by security forces in Rasht on the 14th of Shahrivar. Ahmad (Yohanna) Sarpardast and Morteza Hajeb Mashhoud Kari, on Saturday the 27th of Shahrivar, informed their families through a phone call of their transfer to Lakan Prison in Rasht and were finally released on the 31st of Shahrivar after posting a bail of 400 million tomans, temporarily and until the end of legal proceedings. Mr. Pourrezazadeh was also released in early Mehr after posting a bail of 400 million tomans.
It is reported that the relatives of these citizens were threatened by Sepah information officials regarding the disclosure of information about their loved ones. Furthermore, one of their relatives and other members of this house church were also summoned to the Sepah information office in Rasht and were interrogated.
Ahmad (Yohanna) Sarpardast, 25 years old, Ayoub (Farzin) Pourrezazadeh, 28 years old, and Morteza Hajeb Mashhoud Kari, 38 years old, are Christian believers and residents of Rasht.
It should be noted that although Christians are officially recognized as a religious minority under the law, security apparatus consider the issue of Muslims converting to Christianity with particular sensitivity and take coercive measures against activists in this field.
The treatment of Christian believers in Iran occurs while, according to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, every person has the right to freedom of religion and the right to change religion with belief, as well as the freedom to express it individually or collectively and publicly or in private.
Source: Hrana
