Iran: Death Sentence Issued for Young Christian Convert

Sina Dehqan, a 22-year-old Christian convert, has been sentenced to death on charges of organizing a teachers’ protest campaign and insulting sacred values through his posts on LINE and Instagram.

According to reports received by Christian activists inside Iran from the Voice of Christian Iranians news agency (Vocir), Sina Dehqan, a Christian convert who is currently serving his sentence in Arak Central Prison, has been sentenced to death on charges of organizing a teachers’ protest campaign and insulting sacred values through his posts on the LINE and Instagram social networks. Sahar Eliasi, whose file is also under review and who is a women’s football coach, was sentenced to six years in prison on charges of participation in teachers’ protest gatherings in March 2015 and membership in a protest-ideological campaign, as well as publishing critical articles through the LINE network. In recent years, many individuals have been punished under charges of insulting sacred values for criticisms they have made against financial corruption and the crimes of the clergy.

An informed source reported that Sina Dehqan has taken full responsibility for all activities in the hopes that other defendants in this case, including Sahar Eliasi, would be released, though this has not yet happened and they remain in prison.

Another defendant in this case, whose name is not disclosed, has been sentenced to life imprisonment.

These three individuals were arrested in Tehran in September 2015 and are being held in Arak Prison. Their sentences were delivered to them in May of this year by the Arak Revolutionary Court.

Source: VOCIR