Continued Detention of “Joseph Shahbazian” Without Presentation of Formal Charges
The detention of “Joseph Shahbazian” continues without the presentation of formal charges and access to a lawyer.
Joseph Shahbazian, who has been arrested again and is currently held in Evin Prison, has been denied the right to choose a lawyer, and no charges have been announced against him so far, yet he remains detained without any clarification of his status.
He was arrested on February 8, 2025, by agents of the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps at his residence in Tehran. Published reports indicate that dozens of other Christians who were arrested along with him in the summer of 2020 have also been summoned again or subjected to interrogation.
According to Article 35 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic, a prisoner has the right to access a lawyer; however, unfortunately, Joseph Shahbazian has been denied the right to choose a lawyer so far. Not only does the Islamic Republic refuse to allow lawyers access to political and ideological prisoners, but it also conducts thought control and obtains forced confessions from them.
Joseph Shahbazian was initially sentenced to 10 years in prison, but after his sentence was overturned at the Supreme Court in March 2023, Branch 21 of the Tehran Province Court of Appeals reduced the sentence from 10 years to 2 years on May 24, 2023, and after serving one year of imprisonment, he was released from prison in September 2023.
His re-arrest in February of the current year comes at a time when the Tehran Province Court of Appeals, by reducing his sentence to two years, had stated that there was insufficient evidence to impose the maximum punishment mentioned in Article 498 of the Islamic Penal Code, and prison authorities had informed him before his release that he had been granted a pardon.
The Islamic Republic system, with baseless accusations and without presenting valid documents or evidence, has imprisoned many Christian citizens, civil activists, and individuals opposed to the system. The charge against Joseph Shahbazian, which was later pardoned, was “acting against national security through membership, management, and establishment of an evangelical Christian house church and forming a group with the aim of undermining the country’s security.” However, now without any valid documents or evidence and without stating any charges against him, he has been arrested again and remains in legal limbo.
