Nassar Noor Del Tappeh’s Request for Retrial Rejected by Supreme Court
Hrana News Agency – Branch 9 of Iran’s Supreme Court has rejected Christian prisoner Nassar Noor Del Tappeh’s request for retrial for the fourth time. Mr. Del Tappeh is serving his 10-year sentence while suffering from oral and dental disease and severe vision impairment, and has been deprived of medical care.
According to Hrana News Agency, the media outlet of the Network of Human Rights Activists in Iran, the request for retrial of Nassar Noor Del Tappeh, a Christian prisoner held in Evin Prison, has been rejected by Iran’s Supreme Court.
Based on the ruling that was notified to Iman Soleimani, the citizen’s defense lawyer, in recent days, Branch 9 of Iran’s Supreme Court has rejected his request for retrial for the fourth time.
Mr. Soleimani, while reading the Supreme Court’s ruling on this matter, told Hrana: “The Supreme Court issues rulings without paying attention to the defendant’s rights, which contradicts the principles of civil rights and the legality of crimes and punishments, legitimate freedoms, the principle of innocence, narrow interpretation of criminal laws, and the provisions of Article 474 of the Criminal Procedure Code and its clauses, and different punishments cannot be considered for a single and similar charge.”
Iman Soleimani had previously told Hrana: “Mr. Noor Del Tappeh’s request for retrial was based on the files of my other clients, including 9 Christians who were recently released from Evin Prison.” In an unprecedented ruling by the Supreme Court, it stated that preaching Christianity and establishing home churches is not a crime and conspiracy to undermine national security.
Last year and in September of this year, the Supreme Court rejected Mr. Noor Del Tappeh’s request for retrial. Also, in June of this year, his request for conditional release was rejected once again. This occurred despite him having served more than one-third of his sentence.
Mr. Noor Del Tappeh, along with three citizens from Azerbaijan, was arrested on June 25, 2016, during a private gathering. “Eldar Qurbanov, Youssef Farhadov, and Bahram Nassibov” are members of a church called “Word of Life” in Baku. All four arrested Christians were held in solitary confinement for interrogation for two months, and after four months were temporarily released from prison on a bail of 100 million tomans. The three Azerbaijani citizens returned to their country after their release.
This Christian individual was ultimately convicted by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, headed by Mashaallah Ahmadzadeh, on charges of “acting against national security by forming and launching illegal home church organizations” to 10 years imprisonment. This verdict was confirmed on November 12, 2017, by the Court of Appeals headed by Judge Hassan Babaei.
Nassar Noor Del Tappeh has been serving his 10-year sentence in Ward 8 of Evin Prison since January 20, 2018.
Despite suffering from oral and dental disease and needing glasses due to vision impairment, this person has been deprived of medical care.
Nassar Noor Del Tappeh, who before his arrest was caring for his elderly mother, has spent nearly 4 years in Evin Prison without furlough. In the summer of this year, the mother of this Christian man, through a video release, called for the release of her son.
It should be noted that although, according to law, Christians are recognized as a religious minority, security agencies pursue the issue of Muslims converting to Christianity with particular sensitivity and take coercive measures against activists in this field.
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, everyone has the right to freedom of religion and to change religion with conviction, as well as freedom to express it individually or collectively and publicly or in private.
Source: Hrana
