World News

The Iranian Government grant pardon to a Christian man

This week, a Christian man called Zaman Saheb Fadaei was released from Iranian Evin prison. He was one of the ten prisoners who received a pardon from Iran's supreme leader, Ali Hosseini Khamenei, on the occasion of the 44th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and celebrated every year on the 8th of February.

Saheb was arrested in May 2016, along with pastor Yousef Nadarkhani and three other Christians. In 2017, he was sentenced to ten years for “acting against national security, diffusing Christianity and founding a house church.” He began his prison sentence in 2018 in Evin, Teheran. 

Before his pardon from the supreme leader, he had the opportunity to be freed conditionally if he recognised that maintaining house churches was a crime, something he would not agree to. Finally, his patience paid off, and he was released unconditionally. 

The Iranian state news agency announced that “ten prisoners were chosen out of thousands to receive the mercy of the government.” Every year, during the celebration of the Islamic Revolution, the governments announce the release of some convicts. According to the Middle East Concern portal, there is a chance that other Christians will be freed in the following days. In less than five months, four Christians have been released in Iran, among them Sabeh and Father Nasser, who had been arrested along with him six years ago.

Source: Portas Abertas

Photo: Evin Prison in Teheran, Iran

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