Maliheh Nazari and Joseph Shahbazian, Christian citizens, transferred to Evin Prison
HRANA News Agency – Maliheh Nazari, a Christian citizen, was taken to Evin Prison on Tuesday, September 28, to serve her prison sentence. Also, Joseph Shahbazian, another Christian citizen, was arrested today, Thursday, September 7, after going to the Evin Prosecutor’s Office and transferred to Evin Prison. Previously, Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court had sentenced Ms. Nazari to 6 years of penal servitude and Mr. Shahbazian to 10 years of imprisonment and some social deprivations.
According to HRANA news agency, quoting Mohabat News, on Tuesday, September 28, 1402, Maliheh Nazari, a Christian citizen, was taken to Evin Prison to serve her prison sentence.
Also, Joseph Shahbazian, another Christian citizen, was arrested today, Thursday, September 8, after going to the Evin Prosecutor's Office and transferred to Evin Prison. According to this report, Mr. Shahbazian's arrest was carried out despite his poor physical condition.
Maliheh Nazari and Joseph Shahbazian, along with five other Christian citizens, were sentenced by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court on June 26, 1402, to six years in prison and ten years in prison, deprivation of social rights, a ban on leaving the country, a ban on membership in gangs and groups, and exile, respectively, on charges including “forming an illegal gang with the aim of disrupting the country’s security, acting against national security by preaching missionary Christianity, and establishing a house church.” This sentence was communicated to Iman Soleimani, the lawyer representing a number of these citizens, on June 7 of this year.
In August of this year, Branch 36 of the Tehran Provincial Court of Appeals upheld Joseph Shahbazian's conviction.
Maliheh Nazari, a Christian citizen, was previously arrested by security forces at her home in Tehran on July 3, 2020, and transferred from Evin Prison to Qarchak Prison in Varamin on August 2 after failing to secure bail. Joseph Shahbazian, a 57-year-old citizen of Armenian descent, was also arrested in July 2020 along with a number of Christian citizens at a religious ceremony in the Yaftabad area of Tehran.
Source: HRANA
