With Christmas just a few days away, Shima and Shokoufeh Zanganeh, two sisters from the city of Ahvaz in southwestern Iran, remain in prison. Arrested Sept. 2 for the crime of converting to Christianity, they are expected to spend Christmas Day in the city’s Sepidar jail. Jamshid Derakhshan, arrested Nov. 30 on his way to a prayer meeting in a house church in the city of Hashtgerd, west of the capital Tehran, is also expected to spend Christmas behind bars.
According to the British charity Open Doors UK, the Zanganeh sisters and Derakhshan are victims of an alarming crackdown on Christians in Iran. During the first week of December, at least 114 Christians are known to have been arrested in Iran on charges of either proselytizing or converting to Christianity, which can be punished with a 10-year jail term.
While Christianity is officially tolerated in Iran, the Islamic courts avail themselves of several criminal provisions to persecute Christians, including “propagating against the Islamic Republic in favour of Christianity” and “orienting toward the land of Christianity,” or more ominously, “enmity against God” and “insulting the Prophet,” crimes that can carry the death sentence. [Ottawa Citizen] Read more
