Pregnant woman among five sentenced to one year in prison
Five Christians who were held in prison but then released on bail in February/March 2010 have now received their sentences from the court in Shiraz. Mr.Behrooz Sadegh Khanjani; Mr. Parviz Khalaj; Mr. Mehdi (Petros) Foorootan; Mr. Mohammad (William) Biliad; Mrs. Nazli Makarian have all been sentenced to one year’s imprisonment for threatening the security of the country. All have been told to report to the court to serve these sentences.
Mrs Nazli Makarian is seven months pregnant. If the authorities insist on detaining her for her faith, her child will be born in prison.
Yousef Nadarkhani shown the rope, but says ‘I am staying in my faith’
Yousef Nadarkhani has been ordered to appear in court in just a month and a half to again face the charge of apostasy from Islam where the death sentence is likely to be confirmed. On June 27th 2011 Iran’s Supreme Court upheld the original death sentence handed out in November 2010, but then suspended it, implying that the 34 year old Pastor Nadarkhani who became a Christian when he was 19, should be given time to change his mind. To help him do this he has twice been taken to the gallows and shown the rope that he would hang from. Despite this cruel violation of the United Nations Charter of Human Rights which affirms that everyone can choose their own faith, Yousef Nadarkhani has refused to deny Christ letting his family know, ‘I am staying in my faith.’
Yousef Nadarkhani was first arrested in September 2009 when he approached the local school to ask if his two children could be taken out of the Koran classes. The reply was to send him to prison. Later his wife, Fatemeh Nadarkhani, was also detained, but she was released in October 2010. As for the children, they have not been to school for the last two years.
New Arrests
Elam Ministries has learned that on Saturday 3rd September members of a new house church network were arrested and taken away to prison. Details are limited about the exact numbers or whereabouts of those detained. According to another agency, Mohabat News, two Azeri Christians, Vahid Rofegar and Reza Kahnamoei, were arrested on 15th July 2011 in Kalibar, near Tabriz, and on June 30th the student Mostafa Zangooyee was taken in the South West of Iran. There are no more details available.
More harassment, religious cleansing of universities
A female student has been told to either renounce her faith in Jesus Christ, or be expelled from the university where she is studying. Gaining a place at a university in Iran is an arduous affair, involving much study, and often significant financial investment. This ultimatum is effectively legitimizing a policy of religious cleansing in Iran’s system of higher education.
The Iranian Government: ‘We have confiscated 6,500 New Testaments’
The Iranian government has stated it is has seized 6,500 New Testaments in the North West of the country. No details were given regarding what the authorities did with the New Testaments. Last year officials burnt 300 New Testaments they had confiscated. There has been no verification from the church regarding this seizure of Scriptures. However the statement once again shows the Iranian government’s hostility to allowing their people to read the Bible.
In reporting the August incident, Dr. Majid Abhari, advisor to the Social Issues Committee of Iran’s parliament, first praised the quality of the New Testament – ‘these books were made with the best paper in the world in pocket size’ – and then made the false assumption that they were sent to ‘confront Islam’, hence justifying the seizure of the holy books. The church has no desire to ‘confront’ a religion, but a passion to share Jesus Christ with ordinary men and women. However many New Testaments the authorities confiscate, nothing will take away the great desire Iranians have to read about Jesus.
Slow recovery for Vahik Abrahamian
Vahik Abrahamian, a dedicated Christian worker among drug addicts, is slowly recovering after spending nearly a year in prison solely for his faith. He was released on August 29th 2011 after being arrested in September 2010 for being ‘Zionist Evangelists’ according to the official media. Though released he is not free. The unfounded and dangerous charges against him still remain, and he is being closely watched by the authorities. The international church rejoices that Vahik is now reunited with his wife Sonia, who was also imprisoned from September 2010 till April 2011. However there is dismay that a couple who were helping people get free from drug addiction have been treated so unjustly by the authorities.