Eleven Church of Iran members have been acquitted of charges that they committed “activities against the order of the country” and that they illegally drank alcohol. Both charges relate to their involvement in a house church meeting at which they drank Communion wine. The Christians, who were arrested and charged in April, were brought before the Revolutionary Tribunal on May 1 to present their case.
In a mid-May verdict, a judge ruled that the Christians’ actions were protected under the Iranian constitution, which allows some religious minorities, including Christians, to perform their own religious rites and ceremonies. Local authorities have 20 days to appeal the acquittal.
The eleven acquitted Christians are Pastor Abdolreza Ali-Haghnejad and his wife, Anahita Khademi; Mahmoud Khosh-Hal and his wife, Hava Saadetmend; Fatemah Modir-Nouri; Mehrdad Habibzade; Milad Radef; Behzad Taalipas; and Amir Goldoust and his sister, Mina Goldoust, and grandmother, Zainab Bahremend.
Another member of the Church of Iran, Pastor Yousef Nardarkani, remains in prison after receiving a death sentence for apostasy. Nardarkani, who was arrested for protesting a government decision that would require his son to study the Quran in school, has appealed the death sentence.
Evangelical pastor Vahik Abrahamian also remains in prison in Hamadan, Iran. Abrahamian was accused of propagating Christianity and opposing the Islamic Republic of Iran, among other charges. Three church members, including Abrahamian’s wife, were arrested in September 2010 along with the pastor, but they have since been released.
You can write letters of encouragement to Pastors Abrahamian and Nardarkani and learn more about their cases at www.prisoneralert.com.
Sources: Christian Solidarity Worldwide, VOM sources
