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Iranian Christian Convert Criticizes Iran's Banishment as Harassment

Michael Lipin

   An Iranian Christian convert sent into internal exile by Iran's
   government after it jailed him for six years for his peaceful
   evangelism has criticized his banishment as a form of harassment.

   Iranian authorities had ordered 33-year-old Ebrahim Firoozi into exile
   in the southeastern town of Rask inSistanand Baluchistan province last
   November, leaving him about 1,600 kilometers from his home in the
   Tehran suburb ofRobatKarim. He had been released fromRajaei-Shahr
   prison near Tehran in October at the conclusion of a six-year prison
   term for Christian evangelical activities designated as national
   security offenses in the Islamist-ruled nation.

   Before his detention and trial in 2013,Firoozihad serveda half-yearin
   prison for proselytizing in 2011.

   Firoozi's2013 sentence included two years of internal exile at the
   conclusion of his prison term. An Iranian court extended his period of
   banishment by 11 months in March as punishment for making a brief
   departure from Rask in December 2019 to deal with family affairs in
   Hamedan, where he was born a Muslim in 1987.

   The court accused [1]Firoozi of violating the terms of his internal
   exile by taking an unauthorized leave of absence that lasted several
   days. He later told overseas Christian [2]organizations that he had
   sought permission for the trip and proceeded after receiving no
   response from authorities.

   [3]Firoozi made the trip to Hamedan to resolve issues related to the
   death of his mother in December 2018 while he was in prison, he told
   the groups.

   In a Thursday phone interview with VOA Persian, Firoozi criticized
   Iran's government for sending activists such as himself into internal
   exile, saying it does so in order to legally harass citizens who reject
   its agenda once they have left prison.

   The former prisoner of consciencedescribed the conditions of his
   internal exile in Rask, a town of about 1,000, as tough."Rask has no
   hospital and only one pharmacy that lacks essential drugs. If you get
   sick, there is no place to go,"he said.

   Firoozi said he is barred from leaving Rask's boundaries and must
   report to a local police station every 24 hours. He said five other
   former prisoners also have been exiled to the town.

   In his March interview with California-based Iranian Christian group
   [4]Hovsepian Ministries, Firoozisaid he decided to convert to
   Christianity after discovering online videos about the faith and
   studying a bible when he was living in Tehran in his early 20s. He said
   he knew he could get into trouble with Iran's Islamist authorities for
   sharing his knowledge and love of the faith with otherIranians, butwas
   determined to continue doing so because he believed he was doing
   nothing wrong.

   Firoozi said that during his years of detention, Iranian judges offered
   him freedom or reduced prison time in return for renouncing
   Christianity, but he refused to contemplate such a step.

   Speaking toLondon-based Iranian Christian rights group [5]Article 18in
   April, Firoozisaid he had been treated well and even offered housing by
   Rask's predominantly Sunni Muslim community.

   "As soon as it became known that I was only there because of my
   beliefs, these dear people accepted me as a guest on the first
   night,"he said.

   Iran prohibits its Muslim citizens from converting to another religion.
   Muslimsmake up99.4%of Iran's 84 million people, according to U.S.
   government estimates.

   Iran's refusal to recognize the Christianity of converts means it only
   recognizes two main categories of Christians.One category isArmenian
   and Assyrian Christianswhosepresence in Iran predates Islam, andthe
   other iscitizens who can prove they or their families were
   ChristianbeforeIran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.

   Iran's post-1979 constitution recognizes Christians as one of only
   three authorized religious minorities, along with Jews and
   Zoroastrians. It requires members of these minorities to register as
   such but barsconvertsfrom doing so. As a result, Iranian converts long
   have been denied the same rights as recognized members of Christian
   communities.

   TheU.S.State Department'slatest [6]annualreporton religious freedom in
   Iran, published earlier this month,cited human rights activists as
   sayingTehrancontinued to target Christian converts last year with
   arbitrary arrests, physical abuse and other forms of harsh treatment.

   This article originated in [7]VOA's Persian Service. Mehdi Jedinia of
   VOA's Extremism Watch Desk contributed.Click [8]here for the original
   Persian version of the story.

References

   1. https://www.eternitynews.com.au/world/prayers-answered-for-christian-convert-exiled-to-iranian-border/
   2. https://articleeighteen.com/news/5721/
   3. https://iranhumanrights.org/2018/12/iranian-authorities-refuse-to-allow-christian-convert-ebrahim-firoozi-to-see-dying-mother/
   4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fdh8kQYUUFk&feature=youtu.be
   5. https://articleeighteen.com/features/5822/
   6. https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-report-on-international-religious-freedom/iran/
   7. https://ir.voanews.com/
   8. https://ir.voanews.com/persiannewsiran/iran-human-rights-christianity-0

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