Armenian Christian sentenced to 10 years in prison in Iran

06/20/2024 Iran (International Christian Concern) — After losing his appeal in early June, Armenian Hakop Gochymayan was sentenced to 10 years in prison sentence for allegedly participating in Christian activities in Iran.

According to Asia Newsthere was “no clear evidence” in this case, and Gochymayan was convicted using “a provision of… [Iran’s] Penal Code,” which allows judges to decide cases based on assumptions rather than evidence.

Gochymayan and his wife, Elisa Shahverdyan, who is of Iranian origin and has family in Iran, were arrested near Tehran in August 2023. Shahverdyan was released on bail in October 2023; however, Gochymayan remains incarcerated in Iran's Evin prison.

In a report of Barnabas Aid, the couple were “placed in solitary confinement and subjected to intense psychological torture.”

Authorities in Pardis, Iran, stopped the couple, who were in the countryside visiting friends and family while dining with an acquaintance. Gochymahadn is said to have owned several copies of the New Testament, written in Persian, Farsi, and to have attended several churches during his stay.The couple's two children, aged 7 and 10, were with them and went to Shahverdyan's aunt after their arrest.

To try to dissuade conversions, it is illegal to Iran to share the Gospel with non-Christians and to have Bibles written in Farsi, which is the official language of the country.

Despite the blatant persecution of Christians in Iran and the danger posed to new Christian converts in the country, the Gospel continues to spread in the country. International Christian Concern (ICC) reported As of July 2023, Christianity is growing rapidly in Iran.

“For more than 40 years, the Iranian regime has persecuted Iranian Christians by banning Farsi Bibles, imprisoning religious leaders, and falsely accusing converts to Christianity of threats to national security,” a staff member said. the ICC. “But through it all, God performs a miracle and the Iranian underground church continues to grow rapidly. »

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