Over Eight Years Prison Sentence for ‘Hossam al-Din Mohammad Joneidi’, Christian Citizen

‘Hossam al-Din Mohammad Joneidi’, a Christian citizen, was sentenced to over eight years in prison solely because of his Christian faith and worship.

Hossam al-Din Mohammad Joneidi, a Christian citizen residing in Varamin who is also known as ‘Yahya’, was sentenced to eight years and one month in prison by the Revolutionary Court of this city.

The verdict was issued by the First Branch of Varamin’s Revolutionary Court presided over by Judge ‘Ashkan Ramesh’. In the issued ruling, Mr. Joneidi was convicted based on Articles 500, 500 repeated, and 514 of the Islamic Penal Code for his religious beliefs and peaceful activities.

According to this ruling, he was sentenced to seven years and six months imprisonment on the charge of ‘propagandistic activity contrary to Islamic law with connection to foreign countries’ and to seven months in prison on the charge of ‘propaganda against the system’.

Hossam al-Din was first arrested in November of last year during a simultaneous raid by security forces on the homes and workplaces of several Christian citizens in Varamin. In this operation, officials seized his personal belongings including a Bible, a laptop, three mobile phones, and fifty million tomans in cash.

After his arrest, he was transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison under the supervision of the Ministry of Intelligence and was subjected to intense interrogations for forty days. He was then temporarily released on a heavy bail of one and a half billion tomans.

Based on the case details, ‘participation in Christianity training courses outside the country (Turkey), presence in online and home churches, and promoting Christianity in cyberspace and physical spaces’ were cited among the reasons for his conviction.

The case of Hossam al-Din Mohammad Joneidi is only one example of dozens of similar cases that reveal the very difficult conditions of Christian citizens in Iran. Christians in Iran have been under pressure and persecution for years, and even their connection to online churches or Christian networks outside the country becomes a pretext for suppression and heavy sentences.

These rulings demonstrate the authorities’ fear of religious freedom and the spread of Christian faith in Iran. While the international community considers freedom of religion and belief as a fundamental right of every human being, Christians in Iran continue to face security charges, unjust trials, severe interrogations, and long-term prison sentences.