Iran | April 18, 2024
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An Iranian Christian woman has challenged the UN’s Human Rights Council to call on Iran to overturn ‘false and baseless charges’ imposed on her father, mother and brother. Her family have been accused of acting against national security, organising illegal gatherings and even training church leaders and pastors to act as spies.
An Iranian Christian woman has challenged the UN’s Human Rights Council to call on Iran to overturn ‘false and baseless charges’ imposed on her father, mother and brother.
Dabrina Bet-Tamraz’s parents and brother are appealing against lengthy jail sentences they have received for church-related activities.
In her message, which she read out to UNHRC officials in Geneva on behalf of the World Evangelical Alliance, she said her family members had been accused of acting against national security, organising illegal gatherings and even training church leaders and pastors to act as spies.
Dabrina, who is now based in Switzerland, said: “There are many Iranian Christians today serving sentences for similar baseless accusations. This is wrong. And these court cases must stop.”
Pastor Victor Bet-Tamraz, who led the Tehran Pentecostal Assyrian Church until Iran’s Interior Ministry closed it in 2009, is appealing against a ten-year jail sentence he received last July. Pastor Bet-Tamraz was arrested with two members of his church in 2014 as they celebrated Christmas together. He was found guilty of ‘conducting evangelism’ and ‘illegal house-church activities’, among other charges.
His wife, Shamiram Isavi, is appealing against her own five-year prison sentence for ‘acting against national security and against the regime by organising small groups, attending a seminary abroad and training church leaders and pastors to act as spies’.
The couple’s son, Ramil, is also awaiting news of his fate following a recent court appearance. He and three men who had converted to Christianity were arrested in August 2016 while they were having a picnic. They were charged with ‘acting against national security’ by joining house churches.
“The government´s treatment of minorities has got worse over the last ten years,” said Dabrina Bet-Tamraz. She said that prison sentences for Christians are getting longer, and that someone who converted to Christianity from Islam would usually get a sentence of five years or more.
Despite this, Dabrina claims that ordinary Iranians do not see Christians as a threat.
“An ordinary Iranian… respects and honours Christians,” she said. “Christians have a good reputation in the country among Muslims. People are even shocked when they hear of persecution and the government’s unjust treatment of Christians.”
Asked to describe the impact of the trials on her family, she said: “There are always side effects, but we don’t dwell on them. Instead we move forward, trusting in God and hoping for his intervention.”
Your support helps persecuted Christians continue to courageously follow Jesus.
Together, we can reach those where persecution hits hardest.
