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CHRISTIAN PASTOR SPENDS FOURTH CHRISTMAS IN IRAN PRISON
NCRI - National Council of resistance of Iran
Dec 25 2014
Iranian pastor Farshid Fathi is to spend his fourth Christmas behind
bars this year after being convicted of 'acting against national
security' for leading a network of underground evangelical house
churches.
The 35-year-old Christian cleric is being held in the Rajai Shahr
prison, near Tehran, where he shares a cell with hardened criminals,
London-based public-affairs strategist Miles Windsor wrote.
Mr Windsor, who works on behalf of Christians persecuted in the Middle
East, said: "This will be Pastor Farshid Fathi's fourth Christmas in
an Iranian prison, yet his fortitude, faith and indomitable spirit
continues to impress and encourage.
"Pastor Fathi converted to Christianity at the age of 17. As the pastor
would soon learn, Iran is a very dangerous place to worship Christ.
"The Tehran regime likes to tout its treatment of Iran's historic
Christian communities, the Armenians and Assyrians, as a testament
to its tolerance.
"The mullahs reserve the most vicious treatment for Iranian Muslims,
like Pastor Fathi, who have dared to convert to Christianity.
Persian-language Bibles are banned in the country, and apostasy is
punishable by death under Shariah law, which lies at the heart of
the Iranian penal code.
"Yet to mask its naked persecution of Christian converts, the Tehran
regime usually jails them on national-security charges or on the
pretext that they spy for foreign powers.
"That's what happened to Pastor Fathi. In December 2010, the father
of two was arrested and arbitrarily detained in Tehran's nightmarish
Evin Prison. His 'crime' was serving as the leader of a network of
underground evangelical house churches.
"After a year-long interval, during which he spent months in solitary
confinement and was subjected to psychological abuse, he was convicted
by a revolutionary court of 'acting against national security' and
sentenced to six years."
Then in April, Pastor Fathi was one of several prisoners beaten during
an attack by security forces on Ward 350 of Evin, Mr Windsor said.
He added: "His right to family visits, guaranteed under Iran's own
laws, is routinely violated. He isn't permitted to sing Christians
hymns, and prison authorities have confiscated his Bible.
"For the past few years, I have been advocating on behalf of Pastor
Fathi and other Iranian Christians in Westminster and before the
regime's representatives. Though his case angers me and calls me
to action, I am more often impressed and encouraged by the pastor's
fortitude, faith and indomitable spirit as they are reflected in his
letters to supporters from prison.
"His latest contains a powerful Christmas message: 'Although the
beauty of Christmas or the signs of Christmas cannot be found in
this prison, with the ears of faith I can hear the everlasting and
beautiful truth that: 'The virgin will conceive and give birth to a
son, and they will call him Immanuel'."
"It is signed "your captive brother who is free in Christ."
http://www.ncr-iran.org/en/news/human-rights/17722-christian-pastor-spends-fourth-christmas-in-iran-prison
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
NCRI - National Council of resistance of Iran
Dec 25 2014
Iranian pastor Farshid Fathi is to spend his fourth Christmas behind
bars this year after being convicted of 'acting against national
security' for leading a network of underground evangelical house
churches.
The 35-year-old Christian cleric is being held in the Rajai Shahr
prison, near Tehran, where he shares a cell with hardened criminals,
London-based public-affairs strategist Miles Windsor wrote.
Mr Windsor, who works on behalf of Christians persecuted in the Middle
East, said: "This will be Pastor Farshid Fathi's fourth Christmas in
an Iranian prison, yet his fortitude, faith and indomitable spirit
continues to impress and encourage.
"Pastor Fathi converted to Christianity at the age of 17. As the pastor
would soon learn, Iran is a very dangerous place to worship Christ.
"The Tehran regime likes to tout its treatment of Iran's historic
Christian communities, the Armenians and Assyrians, as a testament
to its tolerance.
"The mullahs reserve the most vicious treatment for Iranian Muslims,
like Pastor Fathi, who have dared to convert to Christianity.
Persian-language Bibles are banned in the country, and apostasy is
punishable by death under Shariah law, which lies at the heart of
the Iranian penal code.
"Yet to mask its naked persecution of Christian converts, the Tehran
regime usually jails them on national-security charges or on the
pretext that they spy for foreign powers.
"That's what happened to Pastor Fathi. In December 2010, the father
of two was arrested and arbitrarily detained in Tehran's nightmarish
Evin Prison. His 'crime' was serving as the leader of a network of
underground evangelical house churches.
"After a year-long interval, during which he spent months in solitary
confinement and was subjected to psychological abuse, he was convicted
by a revolutionary court of 'acting against national security' and
sentenced to six years."
Then in April, Pastor Fathi was one of several prisoners beaten during
an attack by security forces on Ward 350 of Evin, Mr Windsor said.
He added: "His right to family visits, guaranteed under Iran's own
laws, is routinely violated. He isn't permitted to sing Christians
hymns, and prison authorities have confiscated his Bible.
"For the past few years, I have been advocating on behalf of Pastor
Fathi and other Iranian Christians in Westminster and before the
regime's representatives. Though his case angers me and calls me
to action, I am more often impressed and encouraged by the pastor's
fortitude, faith and indomitable spirit as they are reflected in his
letters to supporters from prison.
"His latest contains a powerful Christmas message: 'Although the
beauty of Christmas or the signs of Christmas cannot be found in
this prison, with the ears of faith I can hear the everlasting and
beautiful truth that: 'The virgin will conceive and give birth to a
son, and they will call him Immanuel'."
"It is signed "your captive brother who is free in Christ."
http://www.ncr-iran.org/en/news/human-rights/17722-christian-pastor-spends-fourth-christmas-in-iran-prison
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress