Christian convert Ghazal Marzban (42), who is a Catholic, has been sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison on charges including “propaganda against the state” and “gathering and collusion against national security”. She was sentenced by Revolutionary Court judge Iman Afshari, who is known for handing down harsh sentences to many Christians and political prisoners.

Article 18’s executive director Mansour Borji commented that due to her husband having Parkinson’s disease, Ghazal’s sentencing was in reality “a sentence for both of them”.

Ghazal, who previously spent two months in Evin Prison in 2024 after being convicted of “propaganda against the regime by chanting slogans”, was rearrested by intelligence agents on 14 January 2026 at her home in Tehran. Her Bible and other Christian literature were confiscated and she was taken away to an unknown location, with no explanation given for her rearrest. Article 18 reports that it came days after the massacre of thousands of protesters, including at least 22 Christians.

Two hours after being taken away Ghazal called home to tell her husband she was being held in a Ministry of Intelligence detention centre, but for the next month she was incommunicado. She was reportedly pressurised during interrogations to admit that her Bible and other Christian literature had been used for evangelical purposes, but she denied this, saying they were for personal use only.

First arrest

Ghazal was first arrested on 5 November 2024 by officers of the Law Enforcement Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran (FARAJA) after protesting against the harassment she had endured since converting to Catholicism seven years previously. She was an Islamic law graduate but after her conversion she was prevented from taking her bar examination and was pressurised to leave the country, while her husband, also a convert, has been unable to access the medication he requires to manage his Parkinson’s disease.

Ghazal was taken to the Vozara detention centre in Tehran where she sustained a rib injury while seeking to protect another inmate. She was transferred to Evin Prison, where she went on a five-day hunger strike in further protest at her arrest and the lack of movement in her case.

On 10 December 2024 judge Iman Afshari charged Ghazal with “being in public places and public view without a religious hijab” and “propaganda against the regime by chanting slogans”. On 30 December she was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment and 74 lashes for the propaganda charge, but the hijab charge was dropped.

She was released on 4 January 2025, having completed one-third of her prison sentence, with the remaining four months plus the lashes to be enforced should she “reoffend” within the next five years.

(Article 18, Human Rights Activists News Agency)

Photo: Article 18