Letter from "Yaser Akbari", a Christian citizen from Evin: I am a prisoner in the hands of the enemies of my country

Mehdi (Yaser) Akbari, a Christian citizen, wrote in a letter from Evin: "I am a prisoner in the hands of the enemies of my land."

In October 2010, Mehdi Akbari was sentenced to 10 years in prison by Judge Mohammad Moghiseh for his Christian beliefs and peaceful religious activity, as well as for "acting against national security by forming a house church."

This is not the first time that the Islamic Republic government has persecuted and sentenced people of Christian faith to imprisonment. In the past decades, many of them, especially citizens, have been sentenced to imprisonment without any evidence or proof on charges such as "propaganda against the system" and "acting against national security."

Mr. Akbari, who is currently serving his sentence in Evin Prison, wrote a letter about his situation yesterday, Monday, July 15, which reads as follows: "The trial was hundreds of times worse than the initial interrogation and questioning. They considered Christianity a "lost sect" and called me its follower. The judge in the case had developed a criminal case against me so thoughtlessly that he even forgot that Jews and Christians are followers of two separate religions. He declared me a follower of the lost religion of Christianity and a Jew affiliated with Israel. A slur that is more ridiculous than a court ruling."

In the letter, he stated that he has been deprived of a lawyer and faces severe "white" torture, psychological abuse in prison, and baseless accusations related to national security. His son, Amir Ali, who is seriously ill, has been deprived of care and supervision after his father's arrest.

Referring to his son’s illness, Mehdi Akbari stated that one of the main reasons for his return to Iran was to take care of his 16-year-old son, whose congenital disease had reached its peak. He wrote that when he arrived in Iran in 2017, his passport was confiscated and after a while while he was taking care of his son’s medical needs, he was arrested by security agents. He says that he thought they would tell him the reasons for the crime he committed and that he could answer them after consulting with his lawyer. But without a lawyer and handcuffs, like a lamb going to the slaughterhouse, he was taken to someone who I realized was an investigator.

He, who is a prisoner of conscience, continued: "When he used the phrase 'act against national security' in explaining the charge, I did not have a lawyer to ask him about the meaning of this charge, its consequences, and the instance of committing it. This charge-taking session lasted 5 minutes, and I was placed in solitary confinement and in the custody of the IRGC intelligence."

He continued in his letter: "My confusion, mental pressure, and daily routine were that I had simply chosen to worship God through Christianity and preached the gospel. No matter how much I thought, I did not know what worshiping God had to do with the word national security. After 10 days in solitary confinement and enduring all the humiliations from the interrogators, I was given the opportunity to have a one-minute conversation with my family, under the supervision of the interrogator. They wanted to make a lesson out of me for other members of my faith."

He added, expressing his son's severe physical condition: "With surprise and disbelief, the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court upheld my sentence, regardless of the issues I raised! Now that I have been in prison for 3 years for the sentence, I still do not understand how I, being a follower of Christ, was able to take action against Iran's national security."

He ended his letter with: "This is Iran and I am a prisoner in the hands of the enemies of my country in the 21st century."

His son, Amir Ali, died on January 8, 1402, when he was 18 years old, due to a serious health problem, and Mr. Akbari was unable to attend his son's funeral on time due to the prison's administrative arrangements and the request for a bail of 150 million Tomans. He was released from prison with a 5-day leave so that he could attend his son's grave on the third day after his death.

The peaceful expression of belief and ideological activity, which is supposedly free in Iran, forces the government to imprison citizens and subject their families to pressure and harassment.