Christian converts released on condition they stop meeting together
Article 18 (27.04.2021) – Four Christian converts arrested by agents of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence in the southwestern city of Dezful last week have been released without charge but only after they were ordered to sign commitments to have no further involvement in any Christian activities.
Hojjat Lotfi Khalaf, Esmaeil Narimanpour, Alireza Varak-Shah, and Mohammad Ali Torabi, also known as Davoud, were released on the evening of 21 April after two days in detention.
They were told to expect another summons for interrogation at any time.
According to Mohabat News, 10 to 15 other Christian converts have been interrogated over the past week in Dezful and ordered to sign such commitments to refrain from further Christian activities.
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Christian convert given 10-month sentence for ‘propaganda against Islamic Republic’
Article 18 (27.04.2021) – An Iranian Christian convert has been sentenced to 10 months in prison for “propaganda against the Islamic Republic”.
Hamed Ashoori, who is 31 years old and lives in Fardis, west of Tehran, was verbally informed of the verdict on 12 April following his final court hearing on 7 March at the 4th Branch of the Revolutionary Court in Karaj.
Hamed has received no written confirmation of the verdict, which he intends to appeal, nor has he at any stage been given any information about the names of any of his arresting officers, interrogators or judges.
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Christian converts take appeals to Iran’s Supreme Court
Article 18 (22.03.2021) – Iran’s Supreme Court is considering the retrial petitions for two high-profile cases involving Christian converts.
The first relates to the prison sentences given to a 62-year-old man with advanced Parkinson’s disease, Homayoun Zhaveh, and his wife Sara Ahmadi, 43, for belonging to a house-church.
The second concerns a court’s decision to remove a two-year-old girl from her adoptive parents, Sam Khosravi and Maryam Falahi, because they are Christian converts and the girl, Lydia, is considered Muslim.
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Four Christian converts arrested in Dezful, others interrogated
Article 18 (21.04.2021) – Four Christian converts have been arrested and others summoned for interrogation by intelligence agents in the southwestern city of Dezful.
Hojjat Lotfi Khalaf, Esmaeil Narimanpour, Alireza Varak-Shah, and Mohammad Ali Torabi, also known as Davoud, were arrested on Monday, 19 April.
The following day – yesterday – a number of other converts were summoned for interrogation, though precisely how many is not yet known.
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Christian convert released after over three years in prison
Article 18 – (15.04.2021) – Christian convert Majidreza Souzanchi has been released after more than three years in prison.
The 37-year-old was released on furlough from the Greater Tehran Penitentiary last Thursday, 8 April, and has told Mohabat News he does not need to return to serve the remaining few months of his sentence.
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