An Iranian Assemblies of God (AOG) pastor, his wife and two church workers have been returned to jail after their one-year sentences were upheld by a High Court on May 1.
Pastor Farhad Sabokrooh, his wife Shahnaz Jayzan and church workers Naser Zaman-Dezfuli and Davoud Alijani were initially arrested in December 2011, after authorities in the southern town of Ahwaz raided their church’s Christmas celebrations and detained everyone in the building, including children attending Sunday School.
All four were charged with ‘converting to Christianity and propagating against the Islamic Republic through evangelism’, and were each sentenced to one year in prison by the Revolutionary Court in Ahwaz. They were temporarily released, but were summoned to court on May 1 2013 and rearrested. Mr. Alijani was transferred to Ahwaz’s Karoon Prison to complete his sentence, while Pastor Sabokrooh, Shahnaz Jayzan and Mr Zaman-Dezfuli were taken to Sepidar Prison.
Other Christian prisoners
Mostafa Bordbar, a Christian arrested in Tehran in December 2012 and whose case details were obscure, remains detained in Ward 350 of Evin Prison, along with Church of Iran member Alireza Seyyedian and AOG Pastors Farshid Fathi and Saeed Abedini.
A Christian prisoner in Adel-Abad Prison in Shiraz is in urgent need of medical attention. Vahid Hakkani, who was arrested in February 2012 along with eight others during a raid on a prayer meeting, is reported to be suffering from internal bleeding and needs surgery urgently.
