Islamic law mandates death for those who non-Muslims who proselytize among Muslims. So these Iranian officials must be “moderates.”
“NEWS ALERT: “˜Iran Christian Sentenced To 10 Years Jail For Evangelical Activities,– from BosNewsLife, August 6 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):
TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)– An Iranian Christian convert has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on what his supporters say are false charges linked to his evangelical church activities, local activist said Tuesday, August 6.
Mohammad-Hadi (Mostafa) Bordbar, a 27-year-old resident of the city of Rasht, was “tried by Judge Pir-Abbasi on the morning of June 9, 2013 in branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran,” amid a wider government crackdown on spreading Christianity in Iran said Mohabat News, an agency of Iranian Christian and activists.
Bordbar, who has been detained since December 27, 2012, received a five-year jail sentence for “membership of an anti-security organization” and an additional five years for “gathering with the intent to commit crimes against Iranian national security,” according to published court documents.
The court reportedly said that Bordbar was involved in “Christian evangelical activities” and “Zionism” aimed at undermining the Islamic leadership of the country through establishing “evangelical ministries and organizations and holding underground worship meetings.”
It cited Mostafa Bordbar’s baptism at the home of a pastor, his continued involvement in house churches in the capital Tehran and the areas of Gilan, Karaj and Esfahan as well as related evangelism work as further evidence that he violated the laws of this strict Islamic nation.
CHRISTIAN LITERATURE
He allegedly admitted having distributed 12,000 pieces of Christian literature and dubbing five movies related to Christian evangelism for Christian TV channels.
Iranian officials claimed to have discovered some 6,000 Christian books and compact discs at his home in Rasht. Bordbar confessed that he hid Gospels” for fear of them being burned by Islamic authorities, the court reportedly said.
The court’s judgment came after Bordbar and about 50 other Farsi-speaking Christian converts were detained by security agents in a house in northern Tehran during a worship service celebrating the birth of Jesus, Christians said.
While most of them were released, Bordbar remained behind bars. The incident also led to the arrest of an Iranian-Armenian pastor, Vruir Avanessian, Iranian Christians said.
In published remarks, Bordbar’s lawyer, Shima Ghousheh, said she would appeal the sentence….