A Christian Convert: Islamic Republic Seeks Double Harassment Through Exile Decree

Ibrahim Firouzi, a Christian convert who is serving his exile period in the city of Rasak, a subdivision of Sarbaaz County in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, believes that the goal of the Iranian Islamic Republic’s authorities in issuing exile decrees, which are considered supplementary punishments, is merely to harass citizens for whom such decrees are issued—harassment that authorities attempt to present as lawful.

Ibrahim Firouzi, a Christian convert in Iran, said on Thursday, June 25, in an interview with Voice of America regarding the conditions of the city of Rasak, a subdivision of Sarbaaz County, where he is serving his exile period, that there are no medical facilities whatsoever in Rasak and the city lacks a hospital and even a health clinic. He, who considers the absence of medical facilities as one of his exile period problems, says that if he were to become ill one day, this city has nowhere for him to receive treatment, and there is only one pharmacy in Rasak whose medications are also incomplete.

This Christian convert describes the living conditions in exile in the following way: an exiled person is not permitted to leave the city limits; every 24 hours he must present himself to the police station for roll call and sign an attendance form.

In his interview with Voice of America, Ibrahim Firouzi stated that the number of exiled citizens in Rasak is at least 5 people, and said that Rasak is considered an exile city, and the charges against the individuals who are in exile with him in this city are related to civil crimes, and none of them face ideological and political charges.

This Christian convert says he has been sentenced to prison three times so far. He was first sentenced in 1389 by the Revolutionary Court of Robat Karim County to 10 months in prison on charges of “propagating Christianity.” Mr. Firouzi was subsequently sentenced again in Mordad of 1392 by the Revolutionary Court of Robat Karim County on charges of “propaganda against the Islamic Republic system,” “establishing and directing a deviant evangelical Christian organization,” and “establishing a Christian website” to one year in prison and two years of exile. Finally, in Farvardin 1394, while serving his sentence in Rajaee Shahr Prison, he was sentenced in a separate case by Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Moghisseh, to an additional five years in prison on charges of “forming a group intended to disrupt the country’s security,” and that verdict was confirmed on the 25th of Dey 1395 by the Court of Appeal.

Ibrahim Firouzi was released from Rajaee Shahr Prison in Karaj on November 25, 2019, after serving his sentence, and on Tuesday, November 12, 2019, he departed for Sarbaaz County in Sistan and Baluchestan Province to serve his two-year exile sentence and registered himself with the Rasak Public and Revolutionary Prosecution.

Mr. Firouzi told Voice of America that although he had previously been issued a two-year exile decree by the Revolutionary Court of Robat Karim County, the authorities sentenced him to an additional 8 months of exile. This Christian convert also stated that although he began serving his exile two weeks after his release by going to Sarbaaz County in Sistan and Baluchestan Province and registering with the Rasak Public and Revolutionary Prosecution, the judicial authorities have set the start date of his exile as Farvardin of the current year.

Previously, some human rights media outlets had reported that in Farvardin of 1399, Ibrahim Firouzi’s two-year exile sentence in a new case due to one-day absence from serving his exile period was increased to two years and 8 months by the Revolutionary Court of Robat Karim; moreover, the judicial authorities of Robat Karim County and the prosecution of Sarbaaz County had announced that the reason for changing the start date of the exile from Aban 1398 to Farvardin 1399 was the investigation of this Christian convert’s absence case. This is while Mr. Firouzi had not left Sarbaaz County during this period.

Mike Pompeo, U.S. Secretary of State, in late Khordad of the current year, revealed America’s annual report on religious freedom in the world, 33 pages of which were dedicated to the situation of religious freedom in Iran; a report that stated the Islamic Republic in 2019 continued to harass, interrogate, and detain Bahá’ís, non-Armenian Christians, especially those who have converted to Christianity (converts), Sunnis, and other religious minorities.

Source: Voice of America