Youcef Nadarkhani, pardoned by the Iranian government and released from Evin prison
Pardoned by the Iranian government, Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani was released from prison but still risks flogging and exile.
On February 26, Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani was released from Evin prison in Tehran where he had been detained for almost 5 years. He has just been pardoned by the Iranian government as part of a general amnesty in honor of the 44th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.
Youcef Nadarkhani had been sentenced to death for apostasy in 2010. This sentence was finally changed the following year to a 3-year sentence of deprivation of liberty. Released in 2012, he was again sentenced in July 2017, alongside three other converts, to 10 years in prison and two years in exile for "acting against national security by propagating house churches and making the promotion of Zionist Christianity".
according to Article 18However, he has been informed that he will soon be contacted to undergo flogging, 30 lashes, and two years of exile in Nikshahr.
Youcef Nadarkhani expressed his joy to Article 18. He said he was “happy to be released and home after almost five years in prison” and “very grateful to everyone who prayed for me and remembered me during that I was in jail". "All that I endured was small compared to what Christ did for us," he added.
This government pardon comes a few days after that of two other Christians, Hadi Rahimi and Saheb Fadaie, also detained in Evin prison.
The founding president of Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Mervyn Thomas, welcomes these releases, but he calls "the Iranian authorities to ensure that these men are allowed to enjoy their freedom without further harassment or intimidation".
"We welcome the long-awaited release of Pastor Nadarkhani and Deacon Fadaie, but note that they lost years of their lives in prison on false charges due to Iran's continued criminalization of the Christian faith. , among other religions and beliefs. We call on the Iranian authorities to ensure that these men are allowed to enjoy their freedom without further harassment or intimidation, and continue to call for the immediate and unconditional release of all others who are currently imprisoned because of their religion or beliefs."
MC
