Demanding heavy bail and putting pressure on the families of Christian prisoners
Published by Ali on August 31, 2020
International Liberty Association: The Revolutionary Courts have recently issued the heaviest possible sentences for a number of Christians, and at the same time set unbelievable and strange bails for their temporary release, which ranged from 500 million Tomans to three billion Tomans. It is not clear what the basis for determining this amount of bail was for the defendants, but the issue is nothing but increasing pressure on them.
ILA had previously reported the arrest of“Joseph Shahbazian”, an activist of house churches and a former member of the Jamaat Rabbani (Assemblies of God) Church in Tehran. He was released on bail of 2 billion Tomans on Saturday, August 22, 2020, after being detained for about two months.
Determining astronomical bail is part of the Islamic Republic’s judiciary pressure on Christians. The amount of bail, for these people who are charged with preaching Christianity and the Bible, is even heavier than for embezzlers and corrupt managers and nobles who have criminal records.
It is not clear that in the courts of the Islamic Republic, the amount of bail is determined by law or arbitrarily based on the wishes and emotions of judges, most of who are infected with all kinds of corruption!
Religious minority rights activists say the Islamic Republic’s judiciary is “criminalizing” activities “not recognized in criminal law” through filing and security charges. This practice has led to the “extortion of the courts from Christians.”
Prolonged imprisonment and deportation, heavy astronomical bail, frequent cancellations of court hearings, and lengthy trials and security charges including espionage are all part of the psychological pressure on Iranian Christians.
