20 September 2012

Christians face arrest, persecution in Iran, U.N. experts say

More than 300 Christians have been arrested since mid-2010 in Iran where churches operate in a climate of fear and Muslims who convert to Christianity face persecution, United Nations human rights investigators said on Thursday.

They welcomed the release earlier this month of Yousof Nadarkhani, a Christian pastor who spent three years in prison before his death sentence for apostasy and evangelism was commuted, but voiced deep concerns for those still detained.

In a joint statement, the independent investigators called on authorities in the Islamic Republic to "ease the current climate of fear in which many churches operate, especially Protestant evangelical houses of worship". [Reuters] Read more