Four Christians sentenced to 10 years in prison in Iran
Mansour Borji, a spokesman for the Article 18 Committee, affiliated with the Council of Harmonious Churches in London, told Radio Farda, "Christian convert Naser Norvd Goltepe, along with three Christian citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan, have each been sentenced to 10 years in prison."
The four are accused of "acting against national security and subverting the regime, organizational ties to the Word of Life Church in Sweden, and Zionist Christianity."
According to the Article 18 Committee website, “Vosuf Farhadov Taletoglu, Bahram Nasibov Elkhanoglu, and Eldar Gurbanov are members of the Word of Life Church in Baku who were arrested on June 24, 2016, along with several other Iranian citizens. These individuals were invited to Tehran for a recreational trip by a group of Iranian Christians, but security forces arrested them in a house belonging to an Iranian Christian in the second phase of Andisheh settlement in Karaj.”
Mansour Borji adds: "The accusations against these Christians lack legal evidence and the ruling is a clear violation of freedom of religion and belief. Many Christians are awaiting the rulings of the Revolutionary Court simply by participating in collective worship, even in the privacy of their homes."
The London-based Christian Solidarity Worldwide organization has strongly criticized this ruling and called for the rights of the four men to be respected.
Since the 1979 revolution, several church leaders have been killed in Iran, and hundreds of Christians have been interrogated and imprisoned.
The printing of the Bible in Persian has been banned, some churches have been closed, and church services have been prevented.
In early December, 19 human rights organizations issued a joint statement calling on the international community to end the persecution of Christian converts in Iran.
Source: Radio Farda
