Convert from Islam, Ebrahim Firoozi, learned in late March that an Iranian appeals court in December 2016 upheld his five-year prison sentence for crimes related to practicing his faith.
In April 2015, a judge found him guilty of ‘actions against national security, being present at an illegal gathering and collusion with foreign entities’ – all standard charges levelled against converts to Christianity in Iran – and sentenced him to five years in jail.
In 2011, security officials arrested Firoozi and held him for more than 150 days. He escaped being charged, but endured intense interrogation about his beliefs.
Spreading Christianity
Authorities later released him, but in 2013 he was taken back into custody. Officials claimed he was being arrested in connection with an illegal Christmas gathering in which 50 Christians were briefly arrested. Authorities also claimed that Firoozi was involved in setting up and running a website about Christianity, disseminating Bibles and acting against national security.
He was sentenced and jailed and should have been freed from prison in January 2015, but authorities refused to release him, according to Middle East Concern (MEC).
On 5 March 2015, Iranian authorities tried Firoozi with the crimes for which he is now confined. He was sentenced the next month.
