Additional Name(s): Yousef Nadarkhani, یوسف ندرخانی

Gender: Male

Perpetrator: Iran

Ethnic Group: Fars

Religion or Belief: Christian – Protestant

Reports of Torture: No

Reports of Medical Neglect: No

Appeal: Reduced to 6 Years' Imprisonment

Sentence: Originally 10 Years' Imprisonment

Date of Detainment: July/22/2018

Date of Release: February/26/2023

Current Status: Released

Religious Leader: Yes

Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment

Reason for Persecution: Attending a Religious Gathering or Meeting Practicing Religion as a Convert Religious Activity Religious Belief Religious Figure & Religious Leadership Role

Nature of Charges: Apostasy Banned Organization

Youcef Nadarkhani

Extra Bio Info:

Youcef Nadarkhani was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert. 

On May 13, 2016, intelligence officials in Rasht detained Nadarkhani, a member of the Church of Iran and pastor of a 400-member house-church, and his wife while they were attending a private Christian ceremony.  They were later released that same day. 

On July 24, 2016, Nadarkhani was summoned before the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Rasht and charged with “acting against national security” by “promoting Zionist Christianity.” Nadarkhani posted bail.

In December 2016 and February and June 2017, Branch 26 of Revolutionary Court in Tehran held hearings. During the June hearing, presiding Judge Mashallah Ahmadzadeh reportedly accused Nadarkhani's church of annually receiving 500,000 pounds from the British government. In addition, non-presiding Judge Abolghasem Salavati reportedly disrupted the proceedings by bursting into the courtroom and proclaiming that Christians “make foolish claims.”

On July 6, 2017, the court found Nadarkhani guilty of “acting against national security” by “promoting Zionist Christianity” and sentenced him and his codefendants to ten years in prison. It also sentenced Mr. Nadarkhani to two years in exile in Nik Shahr, Sistan and Baluchestan province, Iran.

On May 2, 2018, the Supreme Court affirmed Nadarkhani and his codefendants' sentences. 

On July 22, 2018, plain clothes authorities raided Nadarkhani’s home and took him to the notorious Evin Prison. Authorities reportedly beat Nadarkhani and attacked his son with a taser during the raid.

Starting in September 2019, Nadarkhani went on a three-week hunger strike to protest educational authorities’ punishment of his children for not participating in Islamic studies, despite a court order condoning their non-participation.

On June 22, 2020, Nadarkhani was resentenced to six years in prison following a retrial.

In February 2021, Nadarkhani reportedly fell ill following a suspected COVID-19 outbreak within Evin Prison.

On February 18, 2021, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention released an opinion on Nadarkhani's imprisonment, calling for his immediate release. 

In April 2022, Nadarkhani was granted a short, temporary leave from prison. Afterwards, he returned to prison.

On February 26, 2023, Nadarkhani was reportedly released from prison.

In July 2023, a court reportedly levelled new charges against Nadarkhani for undermining state security. 

Nadarkhani was subjected to inhumane living conditions and solitary confinement while imprisoned. 

Nadarkhani is married with children.

Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) advocated for Nadarkhani as part of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission's Defending Freedoms Project. 

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Nadarkhani was previously arrested in relation to his religious activity and belief. 

In December 2006, authorities detained Nadarkhani and charged him with “apostasy” and “evangelism.” They released him two weeks later.

On October 13, 2009, while applying to register his church, Nadarkhani again was arrested for protesting a government policy that required all students, including his two sons, to study the Qur’an in school. The charges against Pastor Nadarkhani for protesting government education policy were amended to “apostasy” and “evangelism,” the same charges for which he initially was arrested in 2006.

On September 22, 2010, Branch 11 of the Gilan Court of Appeals verbally issued him a death sentence for apostasy. Security officials reportedly delayed the delivery of Nadarkhani’s written verdict and gave him several opportunities to convert to Islam. 

On November 13, 2010, officials of the Revolutionary Tribunal formally delivered the written verdict from the September 2010 trial.

In September 2011, the courts once more determined that Nadarkhani had committed apostasy due to being born to Muslim parents and leaving Islam after the legal age of maturity.

On September 8, 2012, amid continuing international outcry, Iranian courts acquitted Nadarkhani of apostasy in a retrial and rescinded the death penalty, allowing him to leave prison. While the court found him guilty of “evangelizing Muslims,” it credited him with prison time he had already served and released him on bail.

Related Cases: Mohammad Ali Mosayebzadeh, Zaman Fadaei, Mohammad Reza Omidi

Publicly Available Information:

Aug 12, 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 12, 2019

 

USCIRF Applauds Announced Changes to Saudi Male Guardianship System

USCIRF Urges Saudi Government to Release Imprisoned Supporters of Women’s Rights

 

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today welcomed changes to Saudi Arabia’s laws that decrease restrictions imposed on women by the religiously-grounded male guardianship system. The changes allow women to travel without a guardian’s permission, maintain legal guardianship over their children, and register marriages, births, and divorces.

“We welcome further steps by Saudi Arabia to improve religious freedom for women across the Kingdom,” said USCIRF Chair Tony Perkins. “USCIRF has long advocated for changes to the repressive guardianship system, and we are encouraged by the Saudi government’s loosening of these limitations. We urge the Saudi government to continue enacting policies that empower and protect women and promote enforcement of the changes.”

Saudi Arabia’s guardianship system is based on Islamic religious concepts and imposed on Saudi women regardless of their religion or beliefs. It treats Saudi women as legal minors for life, and has denied them the ability to conduct basic civic functions without the permission of a male guardian. USCIRF has recommended since 2017 that the Saudi government devise a plan to end the guardianship system, a step it agreed to take a decade ago, following its UN universal periodic review in 2009. In 2018, several women’s rights activists in Saudi Arabia who had peacefully protested the guardianship system were arrested. While some have since been released, others remain in prison, and have alleged severe mistreatment. Other limitations of the guardianship system, including allowing a guardian to take a woman to court for “disobedience” or “leaving home,” remain in place.

“We call on Saudi Arabia to end the guardianship system and release all religious prisoners of conscience, including Saudi women’s rights activists detained last year for peacefully protesting the guardianship laws,” said USCIRF Vice Chair Nadine Maenza. “Religious freedom is the right of Saudi women under international law. The silencing of peaceful activists who seek the abolition of guardianship directly contradicts the Saudi government’s official narrative of working toward greater modernization and improving religious freedom conditions.”

USCIRF again recommended in 2019 that Saudi Arabia be designated as a “country of particular concern” (CPC) for systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom. Although the State Department has designated Saudi Arabia a CPC since 2004, in 2006 it placed an indefinite waiver on taking any action as a consequence of the CPC designation. USCIRF continues to urge the U.S. government to lift the waiver.

 

###

 

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on threats to religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion and belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected] or Kellie Boyle at [email protected] or +1-703-898-6554.

 

Additional Name(s): Vahid Roghangir, محمد روغن‌گیر

Gender: Male

Perpetrator: Iran

Ethnic Group: Fars

Religion or Belief: Christian – Protestant

Reports of Torture: No

Reports of Medical Neglect: No

Sentence: 6 Years' Imprisonment

Date of Detainment: July//2014

Current Status: Released

Religious Leader: No

Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment

Reason for Persecution: Practicing Religion as a Convert Religious Activity Religious Belief

Nature of Charges: Illegal Assembly Spreading Propaganda & False or Misleading Ideas, Information, or Materials

Mohammad Roghangir

Extra Bio Info:

Mohammad Roghangir was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert.

in October 2012, authorities arrested Roghangir, a member of the Church of Iran, after authorities raided a house-church in Shiraz. He was reportedly denied access to a lawyer and subjected to prolonged solitary confinement.

In March 2013, Roghangir was reportedly granted bail.

In July 2013, the Shiraz Revolutionary Court sentenced Roghangir to six years in prison for "propaganda against the state" (Art. 500 IPC) and "assembling and colluding to act against national security" (Art. 610 IPC).

In July 2014, Roghangir was arrested at the home of a church cohort in Bandar Anzali. He was later reportedly transferred to Adel Abad Prison in Shiraz to begin serving his sentence.

United for Iran reports that Roghangir was released from prison in 2019.

Publicly Available Information:
Subscribe to