Transfer of "Taimour Hosseini" to Qezel Hesar Prison, Continued Intensification of Pressure on Christian Citizens
The transfer of Christian citizen Timur Hosseini to Qezel Hesar Prison indicates that security case-finding and controversial sentences against Christian citizens continue.
Timur (Kourosh) Hosseini, an Afghan Christian citizen who has lived and worked in Iran for more than two decades, has once again come under the spotlight of religious minority rights activists. Published reports indicate that he was transferred to Qezel Hesar Prison in Karaj on Sunday, November 15, 2021, to begin his term of imprisonment, a transfer that has once again raised serious questions about the treatment of citizens who profess their Christian faith by security and judicial authorities.
According to informed sources, this 52-year-old citizen was arrested during a night raid by security agents on December 10, 1402. According to an informed source, the agents stormed his home at 10 pm and, in addition to arresting him, confiscated a number of pamphlets related to Christian teachings. These sudden raids, which are carried out without transparency about the reasons and security documentation, have become a worrying trend for years and have been repeatedly criticized by human rights organizations.
Hosseini, who has always been known as a law-abiding citizen and has worked as a shoemaker for years, was temporarily released on February 20, 1402, after more than two months of detention, after posting a hefty bail of two billion tomans. An amount that itself reflects the severity of the security case against people who are pressured solely because of their religious beliefs.
On March 12, 2023, the judiciary issued an indictment against Hosseini and three other Christian citizens (Zahra (Hana) Gholami, Hossein (Daniel) Mohammadi, and Sirous Khosravi) on serious charges of “membership in a group or group with the aim of disrupting the security of the country” and “establishing a house church.” Based on available information, no evidence of violent, organized, or anti-security action has been presented, a matter that has been repeatedly reported in similar cases and has led analysts to consider these charges more political and ideological than security-related.
The hearing was held on July 2, 1403, at the second branch of the Shahriar Revolutionary Court, and Judge Bahram Panahi, citing Article 498 of the Islamic Penal Code, sentenced all three defendants to two years of imprisonment and the fourth defendant to one year. Despite the defendants' objections, the verdict issued on January 1 of the same year was confirmed in Branch 36 of the Tehran Court of Appeals; a process that, from a legal perspective, once again raises questions about the independence of the judiciary in ideological cases.
On March 28, 2024, a request for a retrial was filed with the Supreme Court, but the court rejected the request without providing a public explanation. This rejection of the request eliminated the defendants' last legal option to prevent the execution of the verdict.
Taimur Hosseini, a father of three and a well-known and employed person in his community, has now been sent to Qezel Hesar Prison amid growing concerns about his family's situation and the conditions in which he is being held in a prison that has a long history of human rights violations.
The fundamental question remains: "Why do citizens who convert to Christianity continue to face security charges, heavy indictments, and disproportionate sentences while peaceful religious activities are not criminalized in Iranian law?"
The recent incident shows that security encounters with Christian citizens have not only not decreased, but have also taken on a more complex and organized form, relying on vague laws and broad interpretations.
