Christian advocates have expressed alarm at the 10 year sentences an Iranian court has handed down to four Christians for engaging in missionary activities and “activities against national security”.
The four men – an Iranian national and three men from Azerbaijan – were sentenced during a hearing on 23rd May but the judgement was not made known to them until 12th June. The men – Nasser Navard Goltape, Yusif Farhadov, Eldar Gurbanov and Bahram Nasibov – are appealing the sentence.
They were arrested on 24th June last year after traveling to Tehran to visit Christian friends and were taken to Evin Prison where they spent the first two months in solitary confinement. All four were released on bail last October and the three men from Azerbaijan were able to return home where they now are.
Mervyn Thomas, chief executive of UK-based religious freedom advocacy Christian Solidarity Worldwide, described the charges as “unwarranted and unjustifiable,given the paucity of the evidence against them”.
He said the organisation was particularly concerned for Navard Goltape, who they believe is “likely to bear the brunt of a sentence that was clearly issued on a punitive rather than on a legal basis”.
“We reiterate that the constant harassment of members of the Christian community ought not to be occurring in a country where the constitution not only recognises Christianity, but also states that no-one should be molested or taken to task simply for holding a religious belief,” he said.
“As the three men launch their appeal, we urge the Iranian authorities to ensure due process is observed. We also call on the Iranian authorities to take steps to ensure that the nation’s practices, legal procedures and provisions come into alignment with its international commitment to ensure freedom of religion or belief for all of its religious communities.”
CSW also quote Mansour Borji, advocacy director of Article 18 – an organisation that defends persecuted Christians in Iran, as also expressing deep concern at the sentences.
“[T]his recent verdict by Iran’s revolutionary court is particularly alarming, as many other Iranian Christians are still awaiting trial for exercising their right to worship as Christians in privacy of their homes.”
Meanwhile, CSW says a verdict is expected soon in another case involving four other Iranian converts who face the possibility of up to six years in prison on charges of “acting against national security”.
Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani, Mohammadreza Omidi, Yasser Mossayebzadeh and Saheb Fadaie – all members of the Church of Iran in Rasht – were told on 14th June that a verdict would be delivered in 20 days.
The four men were arrested last year following a series of raids by security service (VEVAK) agents on Christian homes in Rasht. Pastor Nadarkhani was previously imprisoned under a death sentence on charges of apostasy but eventually acquitted of those charges.