Iran: Ten years in prison for being Christian

According to the HRANA news agency, the news organ of the Iranian Association of Human Rights Activists, the Supreme Court rejected the request for the retrial of Nasser Nourd Goltepe, a Christian imprisoned in Evin Prison.

Branch 9 of the Supreme Court rejected for the fourth time the request for retrial of Nasser Nourd Goltepe, a Christian imprisoned in Evin Prison. Mr. Gol Tappeh is serving a 10-year sentence, suffering from oral disease and severe visual impairment, and has been denied medical treatment.

Mr. Nord Gol Tappeh was arrested along with three citizens of Azerbaijan on July 25, 2016 at a private gathering. Alder Gurbanov, Yusuf Farhadov and Bahram Nesibov are members of the Church of (word of life) in Baku. Three Azerbaijani citizens returned to their country after their release.

 Despite the fact that Christians are legally recognized as a religious minority, the security services are still sensitive to the issue of Muslims converting to Christianity and are dealing harshly with activists in this field.

According to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, everyone has the right to freedom of religion and expression, publicly or secretly.

 

_{Source and Credit: FCNN, HARANA}