Three Christian believers sentenced to 15 years in prison in Rasht

The Rasht Revolutionary Court sentenced three Christian believers to a total of 15 years in prison and a fine of 180 million rials.

Morteza Hajeb Mashoudkari, Ahmad (Youhana) Sarwar, and Ayub (Farzin) Pourrezazadeh have each been sentenced to five years and one day in prison and fined.

Article 18, an organization active in the field of Christian rights in Iran, announced two months ago that the case of these three Christian believers is being heard in Branch 2 of the Rasht Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Hossein Mousavi.

This human rights organization had announced that the report of the Revolutionary Guards Intelligence Organization was the basis for the accusations against these individuals and the preparation of an indictment against them.

The charges against these three Christian believers include "acting against national security," "propaganda against the system," "forming a house church," and "connecting with organizations abroad and receiving money."

Morteza Hajeb Mashoudkari, Ahmad Saeed, and Ayoub Pourrezazadeh have denied these accusations and say that they have not carried out any activities other than their religious worship.

These individuals were arrested in September of last year after their homes were searched and their documents and personal belongings were confiscated by Revolutionary Guard intelligence officers, and after a while they were released on bail.

In addition to arrest and imprisonment, Christian believers in Iran also face security pressures and other deprivations, including the closure of house churches, the ban on religious activities in Persian, and their deprivation of education.

"Violations of the rights of religious minorities" in Iran have always been one of the headlines in UN resolutions and reports by human rights organizations in recent years.

A month ago, Javed Rehman, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, in his latest report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva, accused the Islamic Republic's authorities of discrimination and violation of the rights of religious minorities, including Christians, Baha'is, Sunni Muslims, and Gonabadi Dervishes.

Source: Voice of America