There is no indication that Amin Khaki, Milad Goodarzi and Alireza Nourmohammadi were distributing any material that actually criticized Islam. They were just preaching Christianity. That’s now “engaging in propaganda that educates in a deviant way contrary to the holy religion of Islam.”
“Christian converts charged under Iran’s newly amended ‘propaganda’ law,” Article 18, May 12, 2021:
Three Christian converts in Fardis, near Tehran, have become the first known examples of Christians being charged under the contentious recent amendments to the Iranian penal code.
Amin Khaki, Milad Goodarzi and Alireza Nourmohammadi, who have already spent time in prison for their Christian activities, have been charged in the past two weeks with “engaging in propaganda that educates in a deviant way contrary to the holy religion of Islam” – wording lifted directly from the newly amended Article 500 of the penal code.
They were each forced to submit bail of 250 million tomans (around $12,000) and told they must report weekly to the intelligence branch of Iran’s police force for the next six months.
The fresh charges against Amin, Milad and Alireza follow coordinated raids by intelligence agents on their homes, and on the homes of nine other Christian families in Fardis, in November 2020.
None of the Christians were arrested at that time, but many of their personal belongings were confiscated – including phones, laptops, Bibles, Christian literature and anything else to do with Christianity.
The Christian items have not been returned.
Then in the space of two weeks in January and February 2021, a member of each family was summoned for interrogation and ordered to sign commitments to refrain from meeting together – either in person or online.
As Article18 noted at the time, Iranian Christians are routinely asked during interrogations to sign commitments to refrain from gathering together in house-churches, but this was the first known example of intelligence officials demanding they sign a commitment to have no further social engagements together at all, including online.
And once again, it was a direct result of the newly amended Article 500, which prohibits “psychological manipulation” or so-called “mind control” by members of “sects” – in the “real or virtual sphere”, i.e. in person or online.
When the Christians refused to sign the commitments, they were threatened with long prison sentences and told it would be better for them if they left the country.
And while only Amin, Milad and Alireza have so far been officially charged, the other Christians have also been threatened with imprisonment or other ramifications, such as employment restrictions….
Peter Buckley says
https://iranintl.com/en/iran/iranians-have-lost-their-faith-according-survey
https://godtv.com/iranian-muslim-leader/
Islam is a busted flush, especially in Iran……
What wondrous times are these….
gravenimage says
Alas, the claim that Iran is now a non-Muslim country as you have posited is not borne out. The Mullahs running the plce are certainly Muslim–as are the hordes of Shari’ah police and free-lance enforcers.
gregbeetham says
I think the West should adopt the same strategy with Muslims, persecute the varmints just like Muslim countries do to Christians and Jews.
gravenimage says
If you mean prosecuting Jihad, yes–but if you mean that civilized people should embrace the savagery of Islam, not so much…
gravenimage says
Iran charges ex-Muslims with ‘engaging in propaganda that educates in a deviant way contrary to Islam’
…………….
Nasty, nasty stuff–but this is orthodox Islam.