Christian Believers Summoned to Evin Prosecutor’s Office for Final Defense

Joseph Shahbazian, Mina Khajavi, Sonia (Samiyeh) Sadegh, Farhad Khazaei, and Salar Eshragi Moghaddam were summoned to Evin Prosecutor’s Office on Saturday, October 24 for their final defense. These individuals, who were previously detained due to their Christian faith and peaceful religious activities, are currently free on bail pending trial.

The Iranian government has repeatedly imprisoned Christians by presenting various charges without providing evidence or documentation. A group of United Nations reporters recently expressed concern in a letter to the Iranian government regarding systematic persecution of Christians and requested clarification on vague charges including “action against national security” and “propaganda against the system.”

The government has now brought charges against the aforementioned Christian citizens and given them five days from receiving their summons to appear at Evin Prosecutor’s Office.

Iman Soleimani, the attorney representing these Christian citizens, told “Article 18” that prosecutor Mohammad Mahdi Barah asked them to present their final defense before the indictment is issued, after reading the charges against them.

According to Mr. Soleimani, the charges brought against these Christians have been presented without evidence and solely based on allegations from the Revolutionary Guard’s intelligence.

The charges against these individuals include promoting Zionist Christianity, weakening belief in Muslim clergy, membership in groups opposed to the system to undermine national security, weakening family foundations, and recruiting Muslims into house churches.

The attorney for these Christian citizens adds that his clients have rejected all these charges in their defense statements.

On the 10th and 11th days of Tir month in 1399 (June 30-July 1, 2020), security forces raided homes and house churches in various cities including Tehran, Karaj, and Malayir, arresting dozens of Christians including Sonia Sadegh, Mina Khajavi, Joseph Shahbazian, Farhad Khazaei, and Salar Eshragi Moghaddam.

It should be noted that these Christian believers are temporarily free on substantial bail amounts. Joseph Shahbazian’s bail was set at 2 billion tomans, Sonia Sadegh’s at 500 million tomans, and Mina Khajavi, Farhad Khazaei, and Salar Eshragi Moghaddam were each assigned bail of 1.2 billion tomans.

Ms. Khajavi was questioned about the history of Protestantism and how Zionism used Protestants, to which she expressed ignorance.

Mr. Soleimani adds that based on Revolutionary Guard intelligence, charges were brought against this Christian citizen, and the prosecutor told her that by establishing a house church, she caused people to change their religion, and there is also a private complainant in this matter. The prosecutor also mentioned Ms. Khajavi’s husband and child converting to Christianity.

Ms. Khajavi requested to confront the private complainant. She also stated that she did not cause anyone to change their religion, and her husband and child became interested in Christianity after witnessing the change in her life following her conversion to Christ.

In recent years, Christians who were victims of government repression due to their religious beliefs told the organization “Article 18” in interviews: Security forces have coerced some Christians who did not hold significant positions in house churches to file complaints or bring accusations against other Christians.

Mr. Soleimani also said that during the final defense hearing session, Ms. Khajavi took God as witness and swore by sacred things that the officers put us under pressure, and although I wrote my statements several times, they tore up my statements and threw them in the trash and said I must write what they want. Therefore, I do not accept this written report.

Sonia Sadegh has also been charged with undermining national security. Ms. Sadegh was a member of the “Women United” church in Tehran and she has also rejected these charges.

“Evangelistic Christian propagation” is also among the charges brought against Mr. Shahbazian, and Mr. Soleimani says his client has rejected all of them.

Source: Article 18