Six Christian Converts Arrested in Rasht
Six Christian converts were arrested in the city of Rasht in Bahman month. Bishop Behrouz Khanjani announced this news to Deutsche Welle, stating that Yousef Nadarkhani has also been transferred to Evin Prison to serve his 10-year sentence.
Between the 9th and 26th of Bahman, six Christian converts were arrested in the city of Rasht. Bishop Behrouz Khanjani told Deutsche Welle that in the latest case, last Friday on the 26th of Bahman, three church ministers named Mohammad Vafadar, Mohammad Islam-Doost known as Shahrooz, and Kamal Nemanian were arrested during a house church meeting in Rasht.
Additionally, agents from the Ministry of Intelligence threatened another convert named Fatemeh Pasdideh, known as Tina, with arrest and demanded that she leave Gilan Province.
Previously, on the 9th and 21st of Bahman, Hossein Kadivar and Khalil Pourdehqan were arrested at a house church, and Pastor Abdolreza Ali Haghnejad, known as Matthias, was arrested at his home.
According to Bishop Khanjani, last month, Ministry of Intelligence agents raided Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani’s home and transferred him to Evin Prison to serve his 10-year sentence. According to Khanjani, during this arrest, Nadarkhani’s son was beaten, and Nadarkhani himself was attacked with a shocker.
In addition to Yousef Nadarkhani, three other Rasht church ministers named Saheb Fadaei, Yaser Mesibzadeh, and Mohammad Reza Omidi were also transferred to Evin Prison to serve their 10-year sentences.
Who is Yousef Nadarkhani?
Yousef Nadarkhani was born in 1978 and is a native of Rasht and father of two children. He is the most famous imprisoned Christian pastor in Iran who converted from Islam to Christianity at the age of 19 and became a pastor of a small group of evangelical Christians called the “Church of Iran” in Gilan. He was arrested and imprisoned in 2009 for changing his religion.
The Revolutionary Court of Gilan Province sentenced him to death on charges of “apostasy” in September 2010. Nadarkhani’s death sentence faced protests from the United States, European governments, and various human rights organizations.
Following international protests, Iran’s Supreme Court overturned Nadarkhani’s sentence in June 2011 on the condition that he recant and return to Islam. However, Nadarkhani stood by his beliefs and refused to recant. He was released from prison in 2012.
However, in June 2017, it was announced that Nadarkhani had been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment and two years of exile to Sistan and Baluchestan.
Source: DW
