Background
November
Maryam and Marzieh are released.
October
Maryam and Marzieh are taken before the Revolutionary Court to face three charges. The anti-state charges against them are dropped, and their case is transferred to a general court which will consider the other two charges – propogation of Christianity and apostasy. They are returned to Evin Prison to await a court date.
July
Iran’s Parliamentary Committee recommends that the cause relating to the death penalty for apostasy be dropped from the Islamic Penal Code Bill, following intense international pressure. However, the Bill has yet to be finalised by the Iranian Parliament.
June
Iranian elections lead to social and political unrest. The Iranian Government and Ayatollah Khomeini blame foreign elements in the mass demonstrations. In the past, this linking of national unrest with international interference has been associated with increased targeting of non-Muslim religious minorities, deemed by the regime to be sympathisers with a Western agenda.
25 May
The EU publishes a Declaration expressing deep concern about religious persecution in Iran, in particular the persecution of Christians. CSW is encouraged by this development, which is further proof that lobbying at government and EU level, along with prayer, really makes a difference. The EU ‘Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on the violation of religious freedom in Iran’ also reiterates the EU’s concerns for other religious minorities in Iran and for those being imprisoned on grounds of their faith.
19 March
Maryam and Marzieh appear in court and are sent to Evin Prison, even though they have not been charged with any crime. CSW believes that they have been detained because of their conversion from Islam to Christianity.
5 March
Two Iranian Christian women, Maryam Rostampour (27) and Marzieh Amirizadeh Esmaeilabad (30), have their apartments searched by Iranian security officers.
Their Bibles are confiscated along with many other items, and the women are arrested, interrogated, taken to a detention centre and subjected to sleep deprivation.
|
