Nasser Navord Goltapeh's request for retrial rejected by the Supreme Court
HRANA News Agency – Branch 9 of the Supreme Court has rejected for the fourth time the request for a retrial of Naser Navord Goltape, a Christian imprisoned in Evin Prison. Mr. Goltape 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 news agency of the Human Rights Activists in Iran, the Supreme Court rejected the request for a retrial of Naser Navord Goltape, a Christian imprisoned in Evin Prison.
Based on this ruling, which was communicated to Iman Soleimani, the citizen's defense lawyer, in recent days, Branch 9 of the Supreme Court has rejected his request for a retrial for the fourth time .
Mr. Soleimani, with a taste for the Supreme Court's ruling in this regard, told HRANA: "The Supreme Court, without considering the rights of the accused, is issuing a ruling that is contrary to the principles of citizenship rights, the principle of the legality of crime and punishment, legitimate freedoms, the principle of innocence, and the narrow interpretation of criminal laws and the provisions of Article 474 of the Criminal Procedure Code and the provisions contained therein. It is not possible to consider different punishments for the same and similar accusation."
Iman Soleimani had previously told HRANA about this: "The request for Mr. Nord Goltepe's retrial was made based on the cases of my other clients, including nine Christians who were recently released from Evin Prison." The Supreme Court's unprecedented ruling stated that preaching Christianity and forming a house church are not crimes and are not collusion to disrupt security.
Last year and in September of this year, the Supreme Court rejected Mr. Nord Goltepe's request for a retrial. Also, in July of this year, his request for conditional release was rejected once again. This was despite the fact that he had already served more than a third of his sentence.
Mr. Nurd Gultepe was arrested along with three Azerbaijani citizens on July 26, 2016, at a private gathering. “Elder Gurbanov, Yusuf Farhadov, and Bahram Nasibov” are members of the “Word of Life” church in Baku. All four arrested Christians were interrogated in solitary confinement for two months and were temporarily released from prison after four months on bail of 100 million Tomans. The three Azerbaijani citizens returned to their country after their release.
This Christian was ultimately sentenced to 10 years in prison by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, headed by Mashaallah Ahmadzadeh, on the charge of "acting against national security by forming and operating an illegal house church organization." This sentence was confirmed by the Court of Appeals, headed by Judge Hassan Babaei, on November 11, 2017.
Naser Navord Goltapeh has been serving a 10-year prison sentence in Ward 8 of Evin Prison since January 20, 2017.
This person has been denied medical attention despite suffering from oral and dental disease and needing glasses due to poor vision.
Nasser Navord Goltape, who was caring for his elderly mother before his arrest, has spent nearly four years in Evin Prison without leave. This summer, the mother of this Christian teenager released a video calling for her son's release.
It is worth noting that despite the fact that Christians are recognized as a religious minority by law, the security services follow the issue of Muslims converting to Christianity with particular sensitivity and deal with activists in this field with force.
The treatment of Christian believers in Iran is taking place despite the fact that, 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 their religion with conviction, as well as the freedom to manifest it, individually or in community with others and in public or in private.
Source: HRANA
