Seven Christian citizens sentenced to a total of 28 years in prison and fines

Joseph Shahbazian, Salar Eshraghi Moghadam, Farhad Khazaei, Somayeh Sadegh, Masoumeh Ghasemi, Mina Khajoo Qomi, and Maliheh Nazari were sentenced by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court to a total of 28 years in prison, a fine, deprivation of social rights, and a ban on leaving the country.

According to HRANA News Agency, the news agency of the Human Rights Activists in Iran, seven Christian citizens were sentenced to prison by the Revolutionary Court.

According to a notice issued on Tuesday, June 7, by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, headed by Judge Iman Afshari, and communicated to Iman Soleimani, the lawyer defending a number of these citizens, Joseph Shahbazian has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, deprivation of social rights, a ban on leaving the country, a ban on membership in gangs and groups, and exile. Mina Khajoui and Maliheh Nazari were also sentenced to 6 years in prison each, and Masoumeh Ghasemi and Farhad Khazaei were each sentenced to 1 year in prison. Salar Eshraghi Moghadam and Somayeh Sadeq were also sentenced to 4 years in prison each. Ms. Sadeq's sentence has been converted into a fine of 40 million tomans.

These citizens have been accused of "forming an illegal gang with the aim of disrupting the country's security, acting against national security by preaching missionary Christianity, and forming a house church."

The court hearing to hear the charges against these Christian citizens was held on June 26 of this year in Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court.

Among these citizens, Joseph Shahbazian, a 57-year-old citizen of Armenian descent, was arrested in July 2019 along with a number of Christian believers at a religious ceremony in the Yaftabad area of ​​Tehran. In August of the same year, Mr. Shahbazian was temporarily released on bail of two billion tomans. Somayeh Sadegh and Mina Khajou Qomi were also arrested and later temporarily released on bail.

Also, Masoumeh Ghasemi, a Christian citizen and mother of Somayeh (Sonia) Sadeq, was previously arrested by officers on July 2, 2020, when she went to the Evin Prison Prosecutor's Office to inquire about her son's condition, a day after his arrest, and transferred to the detention center of a security institution in the prison. The two Christian believers were temporarily released on bail on July 9, pending the completion of the trial.

Maliheh Nazari, a Christian believer, was also previously arrested by security forces at her home in Tehran on July 1, 2020, and transferred from Evin Prison to Qarchak Varamin Prison on August 2, 2020, after failing to secure bail. She was eventually released from Qarchak Varamin Prison on bail in early September 2020, pending the completion of the trial.

Source: HRANA