Some Christian Prisoners in Iran Granted ’10-Day Christmas Leave’
Iran’s head of the judiciary issued a circular on Monday, December 27, allowing a 10-day leave for convicted Christians from prisons on the occasion of the upcoming New Year. The circular does not mention the inclusion of Christian converts imprisoned in this leave.
According to Farsi News Agency, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i issued this circular to judicial units and prosecutors across the country. However, some Christian convicts, including those whom he said “committed espionage crimes, actions against national security with sentences exceeding five years, gang and organized crimes, disrupting the economic system, armed robbery and kidnapping,” were excluded from this leave.
The decision to grant New Year’s leave to Christian prisoners is a new measure during the Islamic Republic’s rule.
The exclusion of converts from this decision comes as scattered reports from human rights websites indicate that dozens of Christian converts have been arrested in Iran in recent years, with some serving time in prison.
“Propaganda against the system” is a common charge typically brought against Christian converts in Iranian courts.
There are multiple statistics regarding the number of Christians in Iran. Iran’s state statistics center says 117,000 Christians live in Iran, but some estimates suggest the actual number of Christians is far greater than official figures.
According to the “World Christian Database,” approximately 547,000 Christians are in Iran. Another Christian organization called “Elam Ministries” says there may be between 300,000 to 1 million Christians in Iran.
These figures are presented amid uncertainty about the exact number of converts given the persecution of Christian converts in Iran.
Source: Radio Farda
