Raif Badawi was imprisoned for his religious freedom advoacy, expression about religion, and for criticizing religious authorities.

In June 2012, authorities arrested Badawi, a…

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…

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

On May 13, 2016, intelligence officials in Rasht…

Sevada Aghasar was imprisoned for his religious activity and being associated with religious converts. 

In August 2013, authorities arrested Aghasar at the workplace of a friend in…

Majid Kashan was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert. 

On November 18, 2017, authorities arrested Kashan at a house-church. Kashan is believed to have been originally…

Ahmad al-Shamri is imprisoned and sentenced to death for blasphemy.

In 2014, authorities arrested al-Shamri, accused him of using social media to insult or renounce Islam, and charged him…

Naser Navard Goltapeh is imprisoned for his religious activity. 

In February 2025, authorities detained Goltapeh and other Christians without charge and sent him to Evin Prison. …

Abdul Waheed is imprisoned and sentenced to death for alleged blasphemy.

In March 2017, security services detained Waheed and held him incommunicado after he was accused of uploading "…

Mohammad Ali Mosayebzadeh was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert.

On May 13, 2016, authorities arrested Mosayebzadeh, a member of the Church of Iran, and several…

Mohammad Reza Omidi was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert. 

On May 13, 2016, authorities arrested Omidi, a member of the Church of Iran, and several others…

Zaman Fadaei was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert.

On May 13, 2016, authorities arrested Fadaei, a member of the Church of Iran, and several others while performing…

Ebrahim Firouzi was detained for practicing his religion as a convert. 

On February 8, 2021, authorities arrested Firouzi again after he released videos detailing the authorities'…

Mohammad Nouri is imprisoned and sentenced to death for blasphemy. 

In or around October 2015, authorities reportedly arrested Nouri after accusing him of posting anti-Islamic content…

Patras Masih was detained for blasphemy.

On February 19, 2018, authorities arrested Masih after he was accused of posting a perceived-blasphemous image on Facebook a few days before.…

Kamal Naamanian was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert. 

On February 15, 2019, authorities arrested Naamanian at a house-church.  Other members of the…

Amri Che Mat was forcibly disappeared for his religious activity.

On November 24, 2016, Mat, a Shi'a Muslim convert, was abducted while driving to visit a friend. According to…

Maruf Gul is detained for alleged blasphemy.

In September 2020, authorities arrested Gul, a Sunni Muslim, after he discussed religious…

Nabeel Masih was imprisoned for blasphemy.

On September 18, 2016, authorities arrested Masih - a minor at the time - after he was accused of posting content on Facebook insulting the Kaaba.…

Sohail Masih is detained for alleged blasphemy.

In August 2020, authorities arrested Masih after he was accused of posting content on Facebook deemed to be blasphemous. Authorities charged…

Mubashar Ahmad was imprisoned and sentenced to death for blasphemy-related offenses.

On May 13, 2014, authorities arrested Ahmad alongside three others for allegedly tearing down…

Ehsan Ahmad was imprisoned for blasphemy.

On May 13, 2014, authorities arrested Ahmad alongside three others after they were accused of tearing down posters containing religious…

Behnam Akhlaghi was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert.

On February 23, 2019, Akhlaghi was summoned to the Revolutionary Guard office and detained…

Mehdi Khatibi was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert. 

On February 23, 2019, authorities arrested Khatibi at a house-church.  Other members of the Church of Iran…

Babak Hosseinzadeh was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert.

On February 23, 2019, authorities arrested Hosseinzadeh while he was at a house-church.  Other members of…

Shahrooz Eslamdoust was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert.

On February 15, 2019, authorities arrested Eslamdoust at a house-church. Other members of the Church of Iran in…

Khalil Dehghanpur was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert. 

On January 29, 2019, authorities arrested Dehghanpur at a house-church. Other members of the Church of Iran…

Mohammed Vafadar was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert. 

On February 15, 2019, authorities arrested Vafadar at a house-church.  Other members of the Church…

Hossein Kadivar was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert.

On January 29, 2019, authorities arrested Kadivar at a house-church.  Other members of the Church of Iran in…

Abdolreza Ali Haghnejad is detained for practicing his religion as a convert.

On January 15, 2022, authorities reportedly arrested Haghnejad, a church leader, in Bandar Anzali for a…

Ghulam Ahmad was imprisoned and sentenced to death for blasphemy-related offenses.

On May 13, 2014, authorities arrested Ahmad alongside three others after they were accused of tearing…

Milad Goudarzi was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert. 

In November 2020, authorities raided Goudarzi's home and confiscated his personal belongings, including…

Ameen Khaki is imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert. 

In November 2020, authorities raided Khaki's home and confiscated his personal belongings, including…

Alireza Nourmohammadi is imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert.

In November 2020, authorities raided Nourmohammadi's home and confiscated his personal belongings,…

Raja Waris was detained for alleged blasphemy.

In December 2020, authorities arrested Waris, a pastor, after he was accused of committing blasphemy on Facebook. They charged him with "…

Anwaar Ahmad is imprisoned for alleged blasphemy.

In 2017, authorities arrested Ahmad, a professor at the Islamabad Model College, after he was accused of committing blasphemy during a…

Joshua Hilmy was forcibly disappeared for his religious belief and activity. 

On November 30, 2016, Hilmy, who is a pastor, and his wife, Ruth Sitepu, were disappeared at the hands…

Mansoor Tahir Ahmad is detained for alleged blasphemy.

In March 2021, authorities arrested Ahmad after he was accused of making negative comments about a religious program. They charged…

Hadi Rahimi was imprisoned for practicing his faith as a convert.

On May 14, 2020, Rahimi, a member of the Church of Iran, was taken into state custody after being unable to pay bail.…

Marco Girgis is imprisoned for blasphemy.

On June 14, 2021, authorities arrested Girgis for having pictures on his phone deemed to be offensive to Islam. During interrogation, he was…

Umar Gautam is detained for his religious activity.

In June 2021, authorities arrested Gautam, a Muslim convert, Islamic scholar, and founder of the Islamic Da’…

Indriyanto is imprisoned for his religious expression.

In March 2020, police in Probolinggo Regency, East Java, arrested Indriyanto for sharing photos online that were considered offensive…

Ayub Pour Rezazadeh was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert. 

In September 2021, authorities arrested Rezazadeh, a member of the Church of Iran, and others in Rasht…

Ahmad Sarparast was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert. 

In September 2021, authorities arrested Sarparast, a member of the Church of Iran, and others in Rasht…

Morteza Mashhood Kari was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert. 

In September 2021, authorities arrested Kari, a member of the Church of Iran, and others in Rasht…

Gholamreza Keyvanmanesh is detained for practicing his religion as a convert.

On June 26, 2022, authorities arrested Keyvanmanesh and three others in Neyshabur as they gathered…

Homayoun Zhaveh was imprisoned for practicing his religion as a convert.

In June 2019, authorities arrested Zhaveh and his wife, Sara Ahmadi, as they were on vacation with some…

Mohammad Golbaz is detained for practicing his religion as a convert.

On July 30, 2022, authorities arrested Golbaz at his motorcycle repair shop reportedly after raiding his parents' home…

Joseph Shahbazian is imprisoned for his religious belief and activity.

On June 30, 2020, authorities arrested Shahbazian, a house-church leader, following raids targeting house-churches…

Abdulbaqi Saeed Abdo was detained for his religious conversion.

On December 15, 2021, authorities arrested Abdo, a Yemeni refugee, from his Cairo home. Abdo's arrest followed his…

Ahmed Mohamed was detained for blasphemy.

On May 9, 2022, security officials arrested Mohamed at his home in a village in the Fayoum Governorate. He reportedly remained forcibly disappeared…

Nikita Zhuravel is imprisoned for blasphemy.

On May 20, 2023, authorities in the Volgograd region arrested 19-year-old Zhuravel after he allegedly posted a video online of himself burning…