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AFTER ONE YEAR, IRANIAN AUTHORITIES RELEASE CHRISTIAN IMPRISONED FOR PREACHING
By JohnThomas Didymus
GodDiscussion.com
http://www.goddiscussion.com/77909/after-one-year-iranian-authorities-release-christian-imprisoned-for-preaching/
Sept 6 2011
A Dutch-Iranian Christian of Armenian descent who was detained by
Iranian authorities on accusation of preaching Christianity among
Farsi-speaking Iranians has finally been released after spending 359
days in detention arrest.
According to Iranian.com, Vahik Abrahamian, 45, and his wife were
arrested on September 4, 2010, in Hamadan, west of Teheran, along
with another Iranian Christian couple, Arash Kermanjani and Arezou
Teimouri. The Iranian authorities released Sonia, Abrahamian's wife on
April 30, along with Kermanjani and Teimouri, but Abrahamian remained
in detention at the Hamadan general prison ward.
Farsi Christian News Network described the conditions in the prison as
"deplorable" and "taxing on Abrahamian's health."
The Iranian authorities had previously arrested Abrahamian and his
wife Sonia. The Christian couple had been held in Tehran's notorious
Evin Prison in February, 2010. At Evin, they were held in solitary
confinement for 53 days on same charges of preaching Christianity
among Muslims, but they were finally released on bail.
According to report by Mohabat News, Abrahamian and his wife worked
with drug addicts and other marginalized Iranians. Abrahamain himself
had suffered drug addiction in the past but became free of his
addiction while visiting the Netherlands. He returned to Iran in 2006
to help Muslim drug addicts in Iran. According to an Iranian pastor,
the authorities are hostile to Abrahamian because of his connections
with foreign Christians groups:
The reason he was in prison for so long wasn~Rt about his [faith and
activities], but because he was connected with foreign Christians~EThe
government in Iran has two challenges~EOn the one hand they don~Rt
like Christianity growing in Iran, but on the other hand because
of international pressure they don~Rt want to make a big story out
of them~EThis is nothing new we~Rve been dealing with this for 20
years. We have persecution, and they will arrest even more people,
but this is not new.
Islamic leaders have recently been raising alarm on the spread of
Christianity, especially among urban youth in Iran. The Iranian
cleric Ayatollah Hadi Jahangosha last month complained about what he
termed "distorted Christianity" spreading in Iran. In his statement,
Ayatollah Jahangosha said,
Iran~Rs capital is more exposed to damage in this issue, and some
people here are attracted to Christianity due to financial reasons,
and some other people due to being neglected by the society.
Iran's population of 75 million people has an estimated 450,000
Christians. Muslims who convert to Christianity are considered
"apostates" with no legal protection. What this means, in principle,
is that any Muslim who kills such "apostate" may consider that he is
doing a service to Allah.
From: A. Papazian
By JohnThomas Didymus
GodDiscussion.com
http://www.goddiscussion.com/77909/after-one-year-iranian-authorities-release-christian-imprisoned-for-preaching/
Sept 6 2011
A Dutch-Iranian Christian of Armenian descent who was detained by
Iranian authorities on accusation of preaching Christianity among
Farsi-speaking Iranians has finally been released after spending 359
days in detention arrest.
According to Iranian.com, Vahik Abrahamian, 45, and his wife were
arrested on September 4, 2010, in Hamadan, west of Teheran, along
with another Iranian Christian couple, Arash Kermanjani and Arezou
Teimouri. The Iranian authorities released Sonia, Abrahamian's wife on
April 30, along with Kermanjani and Teimouri, but Abrahamian remained
in detention at the Hamadan general prison ward.
Farsi Christian News Network described the conditions in the prison as
"deplorable" and "taxing on Abrahamian's health."
The Iranian authorities had previously arrested Abrahamian and his
wife Sonia. The Christian couple had been held in Tehran's notorious
Evin Prison in February, 2010. At Evin, they were held in solitary
confinement for 53 days on same charges of preaching Christianity
among Muslims, but they were finally released on bail.
According to report by Mohabat News, Abrahamian and his wife worked
with drug addicts and other marginalized Iranians. Abrahamain himself
had suffered drug addiction in the past but became free of his
addiction while visiting the Netherlands. He returned to Iran in 2006
to help Muslim drug addicts in Iran. According to an Iranian pastor,
the authorities are hostile to Abrahamian because of his connections
with foreign Christians groups:
The reason he was in prison for so long wasn~Rt about his [faith and
activities], but because he was connected with foreign Christians~EThe
government in Iran has two challenges~EOn the one hand they don~Rt
like Christianity growing in Iran, but on the other hand because
of international pressure they don~Rt want to make a big story out
of them~EThis is nothing new we~Rve been dealing with this for 20
years. We have persecution, and they will arrest even more people,
but this is not new.
Islamic leaders have recently been raising alarm on the spread of
Christianity, especially among urban youth in Iran. The Iranian
cleric Ayatollah Hadi Jahangosha last month complained about what he
termed "distorted Christianity" spreading in Iran. In his statement,
Ayatollah Jahangosha said,
Iran~Rs capital is more exposed to damage in this issue, and some
people here are attracted to Christianity due to financial reasons,
and some other people due to being neglected by the society.
Iran's population of 75 million people has an estimated 450,000
Christians. Muslims who convert to Christianity are considered
"apostates" with no legal protection. What this means, in principle,
is that any Muslim who kills such "apostate" may consider that he is
doing a service to Allah.
From: A. Papazian