Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW)
has learned that Yousef Nadarkhani, the Church of Iran
pastor acquitted of apostasy in 2012, was arrested today in Iran along with his
wife, Tina Pasandide Nadarkhani, and fellow church member Yasser Mosayebzadeh.
This is not the first time that Pastor
Nadarkhani has been re-arrested since his release from prison in September
2012. On Christmas Day 2012 he was re-arrested
on the orders of the director of Lakan prison, where he had been held,
ostensibly to serve the remainder of a three-year sentence. He was released once
again on 7 January 2013.
Pastor Nadarkhani was initially
arrested in 2009 after going to his children’s school to question the Muslim
monopoly on Iranian education, which he felt was unconstitutional. He was
charged with apostasy and sentenced to death in 2010, a decision that was
upheld by the Supreme Court in 2011. The pastor was repeatedly asked to
renounce his faith during court hearings in order to avoid the death penalty,
but refused. On 8 September 2012, he was released from prison following his
acquittal on apostasy charges, though he was found guilty on charges of
evangelising Muslims, for which he received a three-year sentence.
Following Pastor Nadarkhani’s release,
his legal counsel, Mohammed Ali Dadkhah, a prominent human rights lawyer, was
jailed for ten years and disbarred in September 2012 for "actions and
propaganda against the Islamic regime" and keeping banned books in his
home. He was also banned from practising or teaching law for ten years. He was
later released on stringent conditions.
CSW's Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas
said, “We are deeply concerned by these developments and await further clarification
regarding the reasons for these arrests, Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for
Christians who have been arrested on account of their religious beliefs to be
released and re-arrested time and again, in a tactic designed to foster a sense
of insecurity within the community. We urge the authorities to ensure Pastor
Nadarkhani, Tina Nadarkhani and Yasser Mosayebzadeh receive due process, and
once again call on Iran to fully respect its constitutional and international
human rights obligations by ensuring that justice and equality before the law
are guaranteed to all citizens, regardless of their religion or belief."
Notes to Editors:
- Apostasy
is the renunciation of a religion or belief. While in Iran leaving Islam is not a crime codified in law and there is no specific
punishment stipulated for convicted apostates, the death sentence has in
some instances been handed down on the basis of an open-ended article in
the constitution, which allows judges to deliver verdicts on the basis of
authoritative Islamic sources and authentic fatwas.