By Jeremy Reynalds, Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service (jeremyreynalds@gmail.com)
LONDON (ANS. AUG. 5, 2015) Alireza Seyyedian, a member of the Church of Iran denomination, has been released early from Evin Prison.
Human rights group Christian
Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) said in a news release that although
Seyyedian was officially due to be released on Aug. 1, he was freed on
July 27 after serving three years, six months and ten days in prison.
Seyyedian was initially arrested in June 2010 but released after posting a $50,000 bail.
However, in Dec. 2011,
Seyyedian's lawyer Mohammed Ali Dadkhah, said his client had been
sentenced to six years imprisonment by Branch 26 of the Revolutionary
Court for “propaganda against the regime” and “acting against national
security.”
Dadkhah went on to say that
Seyyedian's baptism in Turkey the previous year had been interpreted as a
deliberate attempt to demonstrate that there was a lack of freedom in
Iran.
CSW reported the trial judge
said, “We have enough priests in Iran to baptize him,” and concluded
that he was “propagating against the regime.”
Seyyedian was re-arrested on
March 14 2012 at the Iranian border as he tried to enter Turkey, and was
subsequently imprisoned in Ward 350 of Evin Prison in Tehran.
During his imprisonment he is
known to have spent time in solitary confinement, experienced ill health
and had threats made against his family members.
CSW's Chief Executive, Mervyn
Thomas said in the news release, “CSW welcomes the release of Alireza
Seyyedian after being imprisoned for over three and a half years on
unwarranted charges. While we rejoice at his early release, we do not
forget hundreds of others who are still unjustly detained on unwarranted
security-related charges, including Behnam Irani.”
Thomas continued, “CSW
encourages the Iranian authorities to release all those imprisoned on
such charges, to ensure due process and to guarantee the right to
freedom of religion or belief, as articulated in Article 18 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is
party.”
For further information visit www.csw.org.uk
About
the writer: Jeremy Reynalds is Senior Correspondent for the ASSIST News
Service, a freelance writer and also the founder and CEO of Joy
Junction, New Mexico's largest emergency homeless shelter, www.joyjunction.org. He
has a master's degree in communication from the University of New
Mexico, and a Ph.D. in intercultural education from Biola University in
Los Angeles. His newest book is "From Destitute to Ph.D." Additional
details on "From Destitute to Ph.D." are available at www.myhomelessjourney.com. Reynalds lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico with his wife, Elma. For more information contact: Jeremy Reynalds at jeremyreynalds@gmail.com.
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