Prison sentence was issued for a Christian convert couple in south of Iran

Prison sentence was issued for a Christian convert couple in south of Iran

One of the special matters in this case is the term of “inclination to the land of Christianity” which was added to the case as one of the charges against these Christian converts!

In 2015, a group of Christian converts were arrested in Bushehr city by the intelligence officers of the city. Reports indicated that the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Bushehr has opened the case for 12 of them on charge of propaganda activities against the regime through the formation of house churches.

“Bushehr is a port city and the center of Bushehr province located in southwest Iran.”

These cases have been under review for 2 years and the court also issued the verdict in recent weeks, and were each sentenced to 1 year and a total of 12 years in prison.

The Christian convert, Shapur Jozi, who is among defendants with his wife, Parastoo Zariftash, says in detail about the case to “Mohabat News”: “based on the verdict issued by Judge Abbas Asgari, the head of the first branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Bushehr, these individuals were accused of propaganda activities against the Islamic Republic of Iran, in favor of Zionist (evangelical) Christianity by holding house churches, inviting people to Christianity, and inclination to the land of Christianity “.

One of the special matters in this case is the term of “inclination to the land of Christianity” which was added to the case as one of the charges against these Christian converts.

This Christian convert mentioned that they had been identified and arrested by intelligence officers of Bushehr, and said: “In the part of the verdicts issued was hinted that many books and pamphlets, publications, CDs, banners, lectern painted with cross for holding prayer and lecture, Holy Gospel, computer case, the boards painted with signs of Christianity, tablet, mobile phone and statue were discovered, all of which were seized in favor of the government”.

“Shapur Jozi” and his wife “Parastoo Zariftash” are among the Christian converts forced to leave Iran.

Despite the promises made by Hassan Rouhani on improving the human rights situation, the pressure on Christians inside Iran has increased.

Some time ago, the Vice President of the United State, Mike Pence said that: “The Christian, Jewish, and Sunni religious minorities in Iran are deprived of their basic rights”.

He had said: “The Iranian people have little freedom … and freedom of religion is the least. Christians, Jews, Sunnis, Baha’i and other religious minority groups have been deprived of the basic rights compared to Shiite”.

Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, in his speech to Iranian- American community of Los Angeles emphasized that the Islamic Republic violated religious minority rights.

One of the cases that caused the US government increases pressure on the Iranian government over the past months was the suppression of religious minorities, which have been repeatedly emphasized in the reports of human rights institutions and organizations, but their condition in Iran has been worsen day after day.

One of the cases that the Americans have used to negotiate with Iranian officials is the change in the behavior of the regime with the citizens.