According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), the Christians are to stand trial before the Revolutionary Tribunal of Bandar-Anzali.
The Christians on trial include Pastor Abdolreza Ali-Haghnejad and his wife Anahita Khademi, Mahmoud Khosh-Hal and his wife Hava Saadetmend, Fatemah Modir-Nouri, Mehrdad Habibzade, Milad Radef and Behzad Taalipas, and Amir Goldoust, his sister Mina Goldoust, and his grandmother Zainab Bahremend.
The organisation says the charges relate to their involvement in a house church, and to taking communion wine.
Six other members of the Church of Iran were due to stand trial this month for blasphemy but the trial was postponed twice, the first time to allow prosecutor more time to gather evidence, and on the second occasion to allow the prosecutors to seek the assistance of Iran's traditional churches in determining their guilt.
The six Christians have already served eight months of a one year sentenced for "crimes against the Islamic Order" handed down at a previous trial and are currently out on bail. Their legal team is optimistic that they will their appeal against all charges.
The trials follow a wave of arrests in past months. Between last June and February this year, 254 Christians have been arrested in 33 cities, but CSW fears that the actual number of arrests is much higher.
1 comment:
Find out more about the trial and the issue of apostasy in Iran at http://www.csw.org.uk/home.htm
Post a Comment