Joseph Shahbazian, 58, a “recognized” Christian of Armenian descent, faces 10 years in prison, and Christian converts Mina Khajavi, 59, and Malihe Nazari, 48, have each been sentenced to six years.
In addition, the court ordered mother and daughter Masoumeh Ghasemi and Somayeh (Sonya) Sadegh, who are also converts, to pay fines of 24 million tomans ($950) and 40 million ($1,275) tomans, respectively, for their participation in a house church.
All five Iranian Christians were convicted in June of “forming and operating illegal organizations [house churches] with the aim of disrupting the security of the country”—a claim with no evidence.
Judges Abasali Hozavan and Khosrow Khalili Mehdiyarji, of the 36th Branch of the Appeal Court of Tehran, said the defense had failed to meet the necessary criteria for an appeal to be considered.
But the Christians’ lawyer, Iman Soleimani, says the judgment had been reached “without an actual hearing, and with a complete disregard of the extensive and well-reasoned defense offered.”
According to Soleimani, the court proceedings showed a “disregard of absolute legal and juridical principles, such as the principles of equal opportunity [to dispute accusations], legality of crimes and punishments, and right to a defense.”
Article18’s Advocacy Director Mansour Borji explained, “This is a common practice in cases of prisoners of conscience, where the Islamic Republic does not want to officially own the unlawful decisions they have taken, for fear of social and political backlash.”
The judgment also made a passing reference to “the extent of the activities” of the accused, without giving any explanation.
“Neither in the court, nor now in the appeal, has there ever been any mention of what ‘extensive’ activities they’re talking about,” Borji said, “so it’s a claim without any substantiation. It fits the pattern of complete disregard to the law, and clearly shows they’ve not engaged even in the slightest way with the extensive legal reasoning the defense lawyer has provided.
“None of this has even been considered in the verdict, nor responded to. This clearly displays Iran’s sense of impunity, as the international community continues to stand by and watch Iran’s blatant disregard of human rights.”
