Anooshavan Avedian, 62, had been sentenced to 10 years in prison for running a house church. The court of second instance ruled his release, dropping the charges. Activists are pleased with his release, but demand that he be “compensated for everything he has suffered.” At least 21 Christians remain in prison because of their faith.
Tehran () – After just over a year in Evin prison, in Tehran, the authorities have released, acquitting him of all charges, the Armenian-Iranian pastor Anooshavan Avedian62, sentenced to 10 years in prison for leading a house church. According to Article18, a website specialized in documenting the repression and violations of religious freedom, especially anti-Christian, that take place in the Islamic Republic, the Christian leader left his cell this week, after the judges’ appeal was accepted. At the hearing, held on September 24 in section 21 of the Court of Appeal of the capital, the magistrates withdrew the charges, decreeing his subsequent release.
Anooshavan spent just over a year in prison, having begun serving the terms of his sentence on the same day authorities released another Iranian-Armenian pastor, Joseph Shahbazianalso previously sentenced to 10 years in prison. At that time, his entry into Evin’s cell coincided with the visit to New York of the former Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, who later died in a helicopter accident, while his last stay in prison coincided with the trip of his successor, Masoud. Pezeshkian, to the 79th UN General Assembly.
However, Mansour Borji, director of Article18, sees no connection between the release and the UN assembly: “The fact that Anooshavan spent a single day in prison was unfair, especially now,” says the expert, “that “has established that he did not commit any crime.” Therefore, he concludes, “we hope that he is fully compensated for everything he has suffered.”
Last year, the UN Human Rights Committee urged Tehran to “immediately release those imprisoned for exercising their right to freedom of religion or belief” and to guarantee them “adequate compensation.” In addition to Anooshavan, at least 21 other Christians are currently serving sentences related to their faith, a dozen of them in Evin. Among them is Hakop Gochumyan, an Armenian citizen sentenced to 10 years for alleged “deviant proselytism” and who accompanied Anooshavan to the prison gates after his release.
At the time of the trial, two members of the same house church had also been convicted along with the Iranian-Armenian pastor: Abbas Soori, 45, and Maryam Mohammadi, 46, both converts, were, however, immediately placed in freedom without having to serve their sentences in prison. The story of Anooshavan, Maryam and Abbas dates back to August 2020, when the first arrest occurred, but has been kept secret for a long time. At least 30 intelligence agents raided the house in Narmak, northeast of the capital.
At the time of the raid there were about 18 worshipers praying and reading the readings. During the raid, copies of the Bible, personal belongings, mobile phones and other computer equipment, as well as passwords for smartphones and social networking sites, were confiscated. In the time between their arrest and sentencing, they spent time in the notorious Evin prison outside Tehran, where they were subjected to interrogation, psychological torture and ill-treatment.
In recent years, authorities have detained thousands of Christians belonging to house churches, and hundreds have been sentenced to prison on charges of “acting against national security.” Events that refute, in fact, the proclamations of Tehran and Iran’s diplomatic representations in the world, according to which Christians “continue to enjoy religious freedom, to worship in their churches and to dedicate themselves to their own programs.”
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