In June 2021, Milad and two other converts were each sentenced to five years in prison plus a fine of 40 million tomans (then around 1,600 USD / 11,000 DKK) under the recently amended legislation for "participating in propaganda against the Islamic regime." This is according to Danish European Mission's partner Middle East Concern.
The three men were prosecuted after intelligence agents conducted coordinated raids on the homes of 12 Christian converts in Fardis and Karaj on November 11, 2020. No one was arrested at the time, but Bibles, cell phones and computers were confiscated. Seventeen other converts were subjected to harassment, summoning for questioning and threats.
Read also: Iranian Christian convert pardoned and released from prison
An appeal in August 2021 upheld the convictions but reduced the prison sentences to three years each and removed the fine. Milad and the others were summoned to Karaj prison in November 2021.
On March 4, Milad Goodarzi was released from Karaj prison. He is the seventh Christian convert known to have benefited from the general amnesty granted to prisoners on the 44th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.
Iranian Christians are grateful for Milad's release, as well as for the other converts included in the amnesty, but affirm that a pardon is not an acquittal and does not address the injustices of the prison sentences and the resulting suffering of the victims and their families.
Please pray for
- Milad and his family and that more Christian prisoners will be eligible for release
- That the Iranian authorities will stop persecuting Christians and members of other faiths.
