Iran charges prominent church leader as jailed Christian woman ends second hunger strike

Iran charged and released a prominent pastor but told him to raise a bond or face imprisonment again. Meanwhile, a jailed Christian woman ends her second hunger strike.

According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), the 13th Branch of the Revolutionary Court in Rasht charged Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani of "acts against national security." The court released him July 24 and then gave him a week to raise 100 million Iranian toman (approximately US$ 33,000) in bail or return to prison again.

The Iranian Security Service (VEVAK) officers arrested the church leader and his wife, Tina Pasandide Nadarkhani, on May 13 in one of the raids targeting Christian households. They also arrested three other church members, Mohammadreza Omidi (Youhan), Yasser Mossayebzadeh and Saheb Fadaie, and then released them without charge after they posted US$ 33,000 in bail.

"We cannot speculate as to why his case was handled this way while the other three members of his church were detained pending bail. Conjecture may prove unhelpful, so we would rather not speculate," Morning Star News quoted Kiri Kankhwende, CSW's senior press officer, as saying.

The pastor of the Church of Iran spent a year in prison between 2012 and 2013 for evangelizing and also sentenced to death for charges of apostasy before the court acquitted him.

"It is deeply troubling to hear of the renewed harassment of Pastor Nadarkhani," Mervyn Thomas, chief executive for CSW, said in a statement. "The national security charges leveled against him are spurious and an indication that the authorities persist in criminalizing the Christian community for exercising their right to freedom of religion or belief."

Meanwhile, Maryam (Nasim) Naghash Zargaran, the jailed Christian woman in Evin prison, ended her second hunger strike "because of promises of authorities," according to Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

Zargaran resumed her hunger strike after authorities demanded her return to prison despite medical treatment still halfway to go. She received a temporary leave from prison on health grounds June 6 after going 11 days on hunger strike to protest the authorities' refusal to grant her medical treatment.