An appeals court has acquitted Mostafa Bordbar from all charges relating to belonging to a house church, and he was released from Evin prison in Tehran on November 3.
He had been arrested on December 27 2012 during a Christmas celebration in Tehran together with about 50 other Farsi-speaking Christians. These Christian believers had gathered in a house in northern Tehran to worship the Lord and celebrate Christmas.
As a result of the initial court ruling, Bordbar had been sentenced to five years in prison for being a member of a dissident group and an additional five years for forming gatherings (house churches) intended to undermine national security.
Bordbar was held in ward 350 of Evin prison together with a few other Christian prisoners, including Farshid Fathi and Alireza Seyyedian (a member of a non-Trinitarian Christian group).
Mostafa Bordbar appeared in court and was granted an opportunity to defend himself. As a result, the court dropped all charges and he was released.
