JERUSALEM, October 12, 2018 (Morning Star News) – Rights groups learned last week that two Christians in Iran have been sentenced to prison, the latest in a series of convictions on fabricated charges.
Saheb Fadaei, already serving a 10-year prison sentence in Tehran, and Fatimeh Bakherti, both converts from Islam, were sentenced on Sept. 22 to 18 months and 12 months respectively for “spreading propaganda against the regime,” a common charge, according to Miles Windsor, advocacy and development manager of Middle East Concern (MEC).
“It is essentially used along with charges such as ‘acting against national security’ as a broad charge against Christians,” Windsor said. “And it will relate to innocent activities as members of a house church.”
Bakherti, 37, had been harassed by security agents for more than a year and interrogated at least once before her sentencing, according to advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW). She was arrested on May 25, 2017 along with several others during a police raid on her home.
The verdict, which is being appealed, stated that house church discussions of Christian doctrine regarding the ascendancy of Christ and the ultimate authority of the Bible were interpreted as attacks on Islam, local sources told CSW.
Such a statement reveals the true religious-based motives behind the arrests, Windsor…
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