Confirmation of prison sentences, deportation, and work ban for three Christians in Bushehr

The Bushehr Revolutionary Court of Appeals upheld the prison, exile, and work banishment sentences of three Christians in the city.

The human rights website "Article 18" wrote on Tuesday, February 14, that the Fourth Branch of the Bushehr Revolutionary Court of Appeals had upheld the sentences of Sasan Khosravi, Sam Khosravi, and Habib Heydari on February 29, 2020.

According to the report, these three people are among seven Christians who were accused of "propaganda against the regime" by the Bushehr Revolutionary Court in July 2020 due to their "religious beliefs and ideological activities."

The other four Christians had not appealed.

The other four are Maryam Fallahi, wife of Sam Khosravi, Marjan Fallahi, wife of Sasan Khosravi, and Pouria Pima and his wife Fatemeh Talebi.

Previously, the court had sentenced Sam and his brother Sasan Khosravi to one year in prison each, and a two-year ban on residing in Bushehr for severing ties with converts.

The two Christian citizens were also banned from working in residential centers, their current jobs, for two years. Habib Heydari was also sentenced to one year in prison.

Maryam Fallahi has been sentenced to a fine of 80 million rials and permanently dismissed from government service for converting to Christianity.

As the Article 18 website writes, this nurse is forced to leave her job after 20 years of working at a hospital in Bushehr due to her religious beliefs.

Habib Heydari was sentenced to one year in prison, Pouria Pima to 91 days in prison, Fatemeh Talebi to a fine of 40 million rials, and Marjan Fallahi to a fine of 60 million rials.

Lawyer Hossein Ahmadi Niaz told Article 18 about these sentences: "The basis of this verdict is the hatred and grudge of the security institutions against Christian converts. The judge was free to use all means of mitigating the sentence. Because there are means of mitigating the sentence in the case."

Previously, the Bushehr Court of Appeals had upheld the decision to separate 22-month-old Lydia from Sam Khosravi and Maryam Fallahi, who had been in charge of her since she was ten weeks old.

This is despite the fact that the judge acknowledged in his ruling that there is a "strong emotional relationship" between the child and the Christian couple, Maryam Fallahi and Sam Khosravi, and that with the return of this sick child to the orphanage, an "unknown future" awaits him.

Source: Radio Farda