Zaman Fadaie had been sentenced to 10 years, later reduced to six, plus two in exile, for “Zionist Christianity” and attacking national security. In prison they flogged him for drinking wine (during communion). From prison he had sent an open letter to the authorities asking them to determine “safe” places to practice worship.
Tehran () – The Iranian authorities released after five years in prison, and before the terms of the sentence expired, one of the Iranian Christians who promotes the #Place2Worship campaign in which converts ask for places to practice their faith without risk of being arrested. Zaman Fadaie, better known as Saheb, was unexpectedly released early yesterday morning. From the Evin prison where he was being held, he went to his house in Rasht, a four-hour drive north of the capital, and surprised his wife Marjan and his 15-year-old daughter Marta,
According to the activist website Article18, Saheb was arrested and tried for “acting against national security by organizing house churches” to pray. Another of the charges was the promotion of “Zionist Christianity”, an accusation that the judicial power of the ayatollahs uses to accuse converts from the Muslim faith to Christianity, to whom the Islamic Republic does not recognize or guarantee religious freedom.
He had been in prison since July 2018 and was sentenced along with three other members of the “Church of Iran” to 10 years in prison, followed by another two years in exile. In 2020, the judges had reduced the sentence to six years, maintaining the two years of exile once he left prison. In recent days, the news came surprisingly that he had been “pardoned” and should not serve the additional sentence either.
Activists say it is significant that the release is “unconditional.” Indeed, the authorities had on several occasions offered Saheb “conditional” release upon his admitting that he had acted against the law and that he would not commit any further crimes. In short, that he stopped practicing the Christian faith. However, he had always opposed a clear negative, rejecting the prospect of accepting limitations on the free practice of worship.
In 2021, together with three other converted prisoners, he signed an open letter in which he asked the authorities to indicate to them – when they regained their freedom – a place where they could pray without running the risk of being arrested again. The letter inspired the birth of a campaign that is still active, called #Place2Worship, to call for safe buildings of worship not only for converts but also for native Persian-speaking Christians.
The previous year, the same Saheb and another convert had been flogged in jail for an additional sentence imposed on them for drinking wine (alcohol is prohibited in Islam). In reality, both had taken it at the moment of communion and, therefore, in the context of a rite that is an integral part of the faith and certainly not in violation of Iranian law.
Saheb is the third of the four Christians initially sentenced to 10 years in prison to have been released, after Youhan Omidi and Yasser Mossayebzadeh. At this time, only Yousef Nadarkhani, who is also the best known of the group, remains in custody. Two years ago, the United Nations intervened in the case, stating that the sentence against him was “arbitrary.” The “pardon” that Saheb received is part of a broader pardon that Tehran ordered a few days ago on the occasion of the 44th anniversary of the founding of the Islamic Republic.
