Court of Appeal; Nine Christian Believers Acquitted of Charges
Hrana News Agency – Branch 34 of the Tehran Province Court of Appeal acquitted nine Christian believers: Abdolreza Alighamenezad, Behnam Ekhlaghi, Shahrouz Eslamdoust, Mahdi Khatibiy, Babak Hosseinzadeh, Khalil Dehghanpour, Hossein Kordyour, Kamal Noemaniyam, and Mohammad Vafadar, of the charges brought against them. These citizens had previously been sentenced by Branch 28 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court to five years of imprisonment each. The request for retrial of these citizens was accepted by the Supreme Court of the country, and their case was sent to the equivalent branch for reconsideration.
According to Hrana News Agency, the news organ of the Iranian Human Rights Activists’ Network, the Tehran Province Court of Appeal acquitted nine Christian believers of the charges brought against them.
Based on this ruling issued by Branch 34 of the Tehran Province Court of Appeal, with the consultation of Judge Seyyed Ali Asghar Kamali and Judge Akbar Jouhari, on the date of 9 Esfand and notified to these citizens, Abdolreza Alighamenezad, Behnam Ekhlaghi, Shahrouz Eslamdoust, Mahdi Khatibiy, Babak Hosseinzadeh, Khalil Dehghanpour, Hossein Kordyour, Kamal Noemaniyam, and Mohammad Vafadar were acquitted of the charge of “acting against national security through the establishment of house churches and propagation of evangelical and Zionist Christianity”.
The defense lawyers of these citizens argued in their pleas that: “Their clients merely followed the principles and rulings of Christianity as Christian individuals and did not take any action against national security, and in explaining the approach of the Christian religion, they stated that the teachings of Christianity, including the duties and obligations of those who believe in Christ, are obedience, submission, and support for the sovereignty and governance in which believers in Christ live.” The court of appeal, accepting the defense arguments, ruled for the acquittal of these citizens.
These citizens had previously been sentenced by Branch 28 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, headed by Judge Mohammadi Magisa, to five years of imprisonment. This sentence was ultimately confirmed as is by Branch 36 of the Tehran Province Court of Appeal, headed by Judge Seyyed Ahmad Zargar, in June 2020 and notified to them. In November of this year, Branch 28 of the Supreme Court, headed by Seyyed Ali Izpanah Shehri, declared in an unprecedented ruling that the propagation of Christianity and the establishment of house churches are neither a crime nor a conspiracy to undermine the country’s security. As a result, the request for retrial of these citizens was accepted and their case was sent to this branch as an equivalent branch for renewed consideration.
Abdolreza Alighamenezad was arrested on 25 Dey at the Anzali Prosecutor’s Office following summons. It is said that the arrest of this citizen concerns a case for which he had previously been acquitted of charges and recently this ruling was overturned in the Supreme Court.
Hossein Kordyour and Khalil Dehghanpour were arrested on 9 Bahman 2018 during a house church session in the city of Rasht, and Babak Hosseinzadeh, Behnam Ekhlaghi, and Mahdi Khatibiy were also arrested on 4 Esfand of the same year. Mr. Ekhlaghi’s residence was searched following his arrest, and some of his personal belongings were confiscated and taken away. According to an informed source, security forces damaged or broke symbols related to Christianity during the search of Mr. Ekhlaghi’s residence. On 21 Bahman, Abdolreza (Mattias) Alighamenezad was arrested at his residence, and continuing this process, on Friday, 26 Bahman, three other Christian believers named Mohammad Vafadar, Mohammad (Shahrouz) Eslamdoust, and Kamal Noemaniyam were arrested during a house church session. It is worth noting that all these citizens were arrested by officers of the IRGC Intelligence Organization.
Babak Hosseinzadeh and Behnam Ekhlaghi were transferred to prison after 12 days in the detention facility of a security institution and were held there for 11 days without observing the principle of separation of offenses. Finally, on 27 Esfand 2018, after depositing a bond of 150 million tomans, they were temporarily released pending the completion of legal proceedings. Also, Khalil Dehghanpour, Hossein Kordyour, Kamal Noemaniyam, and Mohammad Vafadar were released on bail in Esfand of the same year. On 2 Mordad 2019, the first court session to examine the charges against these citizens was held in Branch 28 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court. During this session, the bail amount for Abdolreza Alighamenezad, Shahrouz Eslamdoust, Behnam Ekhlaghi, Babak Hosseinzadeh, and Mahdi Khatibiy was increased to 1.5 billion tomans, and they were arrested due to financial inability to provide bail and transferred to Ward 4 of Evin Prison. Four others were released on bail.
Behnam Ekhlaghi, Babak Hosseinzadeh, Abdolreza Alighamenezad, Shahrouz Eslamdoust, Mahdi Khatibiy, Khalil Dehghanpour, Hossein Kordyour, Kamal Noemaniyam, and Mohammad Vafadar are all members of a house church called the “Church of Iran” in the city of Rasht.
It should be noted that although Christians are recognized by law as a religious minority, security agencies follow the issue of Muslims converting to Christianity with particular sensitivity and take coercive action against activists in this field.
The treatment of Christian believers 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, every person has the right to freedom of religion and to change religion with conviction, as well as the freedom to express it individually or collectively and in public or in private.
Source: Hrana
