Five-Year Prison Sentence for Ibrahim Firouzi, Young Christian, Upheld

The five-year prison sentence for Ibrahim Firouzi, a young Christian, has been upheld by the appellate court.

The website of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reported on Tuesday, the eighth day of Farvardin, that Mr. Firouzi’s appellate hearing took place on the 25th of Dey of the previous month, and the appellate court upheld the five-year disciplinary imprisonment sentence for Ibrahim Firouzi.

Mr. Firouzi was sentenced in Farvardin 1394 by Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Moghisseh, to five years of disciplinary imprisonment on the charge of “forming a group with the intent to undermine the security of the country.”

This Christian citizen was also sentenced in 1392 by the Revolutionary Court of Robat Karim to one year of imprisonment and two years of exile to Sarbaaz city in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, one of the country’s most deprived provinces, on charges of “propaganda against the Islamic Republic system,” “establishing and directing a deviationist evangelical Christian organization,” and launching a Christian website.

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran wrote, citing Mr. Firouzi’s relatives, that his interrogations in Evin Prison were accompanied by “insults and ideological searches” to obtain forced confessions. The interrogators also addressed issues for which Mr. Firouzi had previously been interrogated and tried.

International human rights organizations have consistently accused the Islamic Republic of mistreating religious and ethnic minorities. Iran has arrested and imprisoned young Christians and Bahai citizens in several instances.

Source: Voice of America