Tehran: over 250 years in prison for 'Christianity' in 2024

A six-fold increase from 2023 amid a growing crackdown that has seen 96 worshippers sentenced. This is what emerges from a study published by activist groups and titled “The Tip of the Iceberg.” Because, in reality, violations of practise of worship are far more widespread than the published data. The role of services and the search for contacts or funds from abroad.

Milan (AsiaNews) - A combined total of more than 250 years in prison in 2024 alone. An increase of about six times from the previous year, confirming a repressive framework that has been progressively escalating over the past five years against the minority. The climate of denominationally motivated persecution, or at least violations of the religious freedom of Christians taking place in the Islamic Republic is confirmed by data from a report (click here to read it) relaunched by Article18, a website specializing in documenting abuses and limitations in the area of worship. The study, released these days, was conducted with the collaboration of other leading personal freedoms NGOs including Open Doors, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) and Middle East Concern and paints a picture that is cause for “deep alarm.”

Escalation of condemnations

The activist groups' report confirms that there is a "sharp regression ‘ in religious freedom in Iran, in line with the authorities’ escalating crackdown linked to the protests that erupted following the death of Mahsa Amini at the hands of the morality police. A finding also emerged in reports by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, which call for reclassifying the Islamic Republic as a “nation of particular concern (Cpc)” for its “systematic and egregious violations.”

In the year just ended at least 96 Christians, mostly converts from Islam in a nation with a large Shiite Muslim majority, were sentenced to a total of 263 years in prison, compared to 22 Christians sentenced to a total of 43.5 years in 2023. According to the report's authors, the reason for the substantial increase is related in part to the “sharp spike in arrests in the second half of 2023, which required judicial treatment” in the months following when the sentencing verdicts came in.

Adding to this, however, is the significant increase in individual sentences to long prison terms, with five Christians receiving sentences of at least 10 years in jail and, in at least one case, up to 15 years. In all of these cases documented in the report titled “The Tip of the Iceberg” (to draw attention to the fact that many other cases go unreported) there were charges related to the faith practiced or religious activities related to worship.

The tip of the iceberg

The extent of the anti-Christian persecution documented in the report-and some of which has come to light-is also linked to the leaking from court drawers of more than three million court files by Tehran's magistrates, covering the period between 2008 and 2023. Of these, at least 300 directly involve members of the religious minority. “The fact that these cases represent only the tip of the iceberg,” the study explains, ‘is demonstrated firstly by the fact that they relate only to the Tehran region’ while other areas of the country are still uncovered. Moreover, because also related to that period, dozens of other documented cases of confessional persecution in the capital have since emerged, adding to those already known and “involving at least 96 people.” Finally, the figures show only a fraction of the ayatollahs' repressive policy because “58 percent of the cases went unreported” for fear of further reprisals and “were not previously known to the perpetrators.”

The second half of the report then contains a detailed analysis of files taken from the drawers of the capital's judges, including 10 key insights into the systematic repression of Christian activities in the Islamic Republic. The analysis includes an explanation of how believers are vilified by being called members of a “cult” and considered a “threat” to security; how the promotion of Christianity is criminalized; how often Christians are questioned about their beliefs or in matters of worship, only to be forced to recant; how the Bible is regarded as contraband or can be equated with evidence of a crime; finally, of the systematic accusations made against Christians for ordinary activities and daily religious practices, such as singing worship songs in services

“The documents cover a wide range of judicial proceedings, from criminal cases involving ordinary citizens to the files of political or religious prisoners, and shed light on the darkest corners of the Islamic Republic's judicial system.” This material, the activist movements' report points out, offers “researchers, experts and members of the public food for thought on the mindset, decision-making processes and operational procedures of Iran's judiciary and security apparatus” amid growing obscurantism.

In the crosshairs of the services

There are about 300,000 Christians (of all denominations) in Iran today, out of a total population of nearly 86 million. Armenians, Assyrians and Chaldeans represent the most traditional religious groupings in Iran and make up more than 90 percent of Iran's Christian population. They do not carry out any missionary activities, and even the practice of worship is sometimes difficult. Other trends noted in the past year include confiscation of property and control of their finances, while members of the different communities - Catholic, Protestant, etc - arrested and their lawyers are increasingly subjected to heavy interrogation. The aim of prison authorities and intelligence and security services is to extract information about phantom foreign funds or the support of some foreign entity or institution. “In the second half of 2024, Christians,” the study charges, ”were targeted in at least five different cities within two months.

Each arrest was made by intelligence agents of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (Pasdaran, Irgc), with pretextual indictments imposed under a provision contained in an amendment to Article 500 of the Islamic Penal Code. It provides for a maximum penalty of up to 10 years' imprisonment in cases where the suspect has received “financial or organizational help from outside the country.” “The Iranian government,” say the experts who edited the report, ”appears to have intensified efforts to isolate and financially undermine the Christian community as part of a broader strategy to suppress its growth and influence. “Making financial donations, charitable offerings or paying tithes to support church activities,” they conclude, ”are standard practices for Christians around the world, but such activities have been criminalized by Iran's revolutionary courts.

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