Conditional Release Request of Nasser Nord Gol-Tapeh, Christian Prisoner in Evin Prison, Rejected
The conditional release request of Nasser Nord Gol-Tapeh, a Christian held in Evin Prison, was rejected on June 22, 2021 and officially communicated to him in writing at the prison. The Supreme Court of the country had also rejected his request for retrial in late September 2020. Mr. Nord Gol-Tapeh was previously sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment by the Tehran Revolutionary Court, and this sentence was upheld exactly by the Appeals Court.
According to a report by Hrana news agency citing Article 18, the conditional release request of Nasser Nord Gol-Tapeh, a Christian prisoner in Evin Prison, was rejected.
Based on this report, the rejection of the conditional release request of this Christian was officially communicated to him on June 22, 2021, in writing without providing specific reasons. Nasser Nord Gol-Tapeh, who was caring for his elderly mother before his detention, has spent nearly three and a half years in Evin Prison without any leave.
Previously, the Supreme Court rejected Nasser Nord Gol-Tapeh’s request for retrial on September 15, 2020.
Nasser Nord Gol-Tapeh, along with three citizens of Azerbaijan, was arrested on June 25, 2015 during a private gathering. “Eldar Gharbanov, Yousuf Farhadov, and Bahram Nasibov” are members of a church called “Word of Life” in Baku. All four arrested Christians were interrogated in solitary cells for two months and after four months were temporarily released from prison on a bond of 100 million tomans. The three Azerbaijani citizens returned to their country after their release.
This Christian convert was ultimately sentenced by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, headed by Mashalah Ahmadzadeh, to 10 years of imprisonment on charges of “acting against national security through establishing and launching illegal home church organizations,” and this sentence was upheld exactly on November 12, 2017 by the Appeals Court headed by Judge Hassan Babaei.
Nasser Nord Gol-Tapeh has been serving his 10-year prison sentence in Ward 8 of Evin Prison since February 20, 2017.
It should be noted that although Christians are officially recognized as a religious minority according to law, security agencies pursue the issue of Muslims converting to Christianity with particular sensitivity and deal forcefully with activists in this field.
Treatment of Christian converts in Iran occurs while according to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, everyone has the right to freedom of conscience, religion and to change their religion or belief, and also freedom to manifest their religion or belief individually or in community, in public or in private.
Source: Hrana
