Arrested by the police on Christmas Eve

Txt: Article 18 and Stefanus Alliance Photo: Mohabat News 

Eight Iranian Christian converts have been sentenced to a total of 45 years in prison. The eight, who are from the western city of Izeh, were among at least 46 Iranian Christians who were arrested in a wave of arrests around Christmas. More than 50 other Christians were arrested in waves of arrests last summer. 

Yasin Mousavi received the longest sentence of the eight now convicted. He must serve 15 years in prison, reports Article18, which closely follows the situation of Iranian Christians. 

According to the Iranian Christian website Mohabat News, Yasin was sentenced to 10 years in prison for 'membership of a group with the intention of disturbing national security'. He then received an additional five years for 'propaganda against the regime by promoting 'Zionist Christianity'. 

Iranian Christians continue to be sentenced to long prison terms for allegedly threatening national security. This is despite a Supreme Court ruling in November 2021 that house churches do not threaten national security and are not illegal. 

Known for long sentences 

The sentences against the eight were reportedly handed down on 27 May by the Ahvaz Revolutionary Court. Judge Mehdi Fathinia, who recently sentenced another Christian convert to five years in prison, is said to have handed down the sentence. 

According to the report, Yasin has been arrested on three previous occasions. One of those times was during the large demonstrations in Iran in 2022. The town of Izeh saw some of the most violent protests against the regime at the time - particularly after the killing of a nine-year-old boy, Kian Pirfalak. 

The indictment against Yasin also alleged that he "played an active role in the protests" and was "one of the leaders" of an evangelical Christian organisation in the area. 

The police came on Christmas Eve 

"Yasin was arrested on Christmas Eve last year. He was allegedly held in solitary confinement for 20 days in the Ministry of Intelligence detention centre before being transferred to Shiban Prison in Ahvaz. 

After almost four months in detention, Yasin was released on bail of 2 billion tomans (approximately $30,000) on 20 April, before being sentenced a month later. 

Yasin reportedly spent three months in Shiban prison after a previous arrest in 2017, and another three months in 2021. 

This is yet another abuse of religious freedom and against Christians in Iran. The ayatollahs are once again demonstrating their brutal power and real impotence. It is absurd to claim that peaceful Christians are a threat to national security. Iranian Christians who are sentenced simply for being Christians are courageous witnesses of their faith. Brutal sentences show that the regime of the ayatollahs is actually weakening,' says Johannes Morken, editor of the Stefanus Alliance. 

'That peaceful Christians are claimed to threaten national security is absurd.'  

 Johannes Morken, Stefanus Alliance 

Faceless victims of the ayatollahs 

Many Iranian Christians who are arrested do not dare to be publicly identified. So there are more and more 'faceless' prisoners of conscience. No details have been given about the other seven Christians sentenced, other than the names of five of them and the length of their sentences: 

Hamid Afzali: 10 years imprisonment 

Nasrullah Mousavi, Bijan Qolizadeh and Iman Salehi: 5 years in prison 

Two unnamed individuals: 2 years imprisonment 

Zahrab Shahbazi: 9 months in prison 

Iman Salehi is reportedly still in prison, while the others are currently out on bail. It is not known when they will be called to serve their sentences. 

Article18 understands that the convictions were based on Article 500 of the Iranian Penal Code. This paragraph has been used on several occasions to convict Christians since it was controversially amended in 2021.