Appeals Court: Three Christian Citizens Sentenced to Imprisonment, Fines, and Social Deprivation
The convictions of Anooshavan Aodian, a Christian citizen, and Abbas Souri and Maryam Mohammadi, two Christian believers, were confirmed by the appeals court of Tehran Province. Previously, Anooshavan Aodian was sentenced in the primary court to 10 years imprisonment, payment of a fine, and deprivation of social rights, while Abbas Souri and Maryam Mohammadi were sentenced to pay a 50 million toman fine and face social deprivations.
According to HRANA news agency, citing Article 18, the convictions of Anooshavan Aodian, a Christian citizen, and Abbas Souri and Maryam Mohammadi, two Christian believers, were confirmed by the Tehran Province Appeals Court.
According to the ruling issued by the Tehran Province Appeals Court on Sunday, Khordad 8, and notified to these citizens, Anooshavan Aodian was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment and deprivation of social rights for 10 years as well as payment of a fine. Additionally, Abbas Souri and Maryam Mohammadi were sentenced to 10 years of social deprivation and payment of a class 5 fine to the state treasury valued at 50 million tomans, prohibition of membership in political groups and associations, travel ban, seasonal reporting to the case monitoring office, and residential ban in Tehran Province and neighboring provinces for 2 years.
The charges against these citizens are described as “establishing and managing an association under the title of a church of evangelical Christian Zionism with the aim of undermining national security” and “possession of equipment received from satellite.”
These citizens were previously convicted by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court.
Earlier, Iman Soleimani, the defense lawyer for Abbas Mohammadi and Anooshavan Aodian, told HRANA: “This ruling was issued without any consideration of the defense arguments and they were disregarded. Upon reviewing the verdict, we will see that exactly what appears in the officials’ proceedings has been issued as the verdict.”
Previously, the indictment against Anooshavan Aodian and Abbas Souri was issued by Branch 3 of the Evin Security Prosecutor’s Investigation Office.
It is worth noting that although Christians are officially recognized as a religious minority under law, security agencies pursue the issue of Muslims converting to Christianity with particular sensitivity and use forceful measures against activists in this field.
The treatment of Christian believers in Iran occurs at a time when Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights stipulate that everyone has the right to freedom of religion and to change religion with belief, as well as the freedom to express it individually or collectively, publicly or privately.
Source: HRANA
