Anooshavan Avedian (61) is an ethnic Armenian house-church leader who is serving a ten-year prison sentence in Iran for teaching other Christians in his home, which a judge described as “propaganda contrary to and disturbing to the holy religion of Islam”.
Anooshavan was arrested on 21 August 2020 when approximately thirty Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) agents raided his home in Narmak, northeast Tehran, where around 18 Christians including members of his family had gathered to pray and worship. The agents confiscated all Bibles and communication devices and demanded that everyone fill in forms providing personal information including passwords to phones and social media accounts.
Anooshavan was taken to Tehran’s Evin Prison along with two members of his group, Maryam Mohammadi and Abbas Soori, both converts to Christianity. Maryam and Abbas were released two days later but were summoned again the following week, held for 26 days in solitary confinement and subjected to psychological torture during interrogation sessions. The three Christians were released on 23 September 2020 after depositing property deeds to cover bail demands of 1 billion tomans (approximately €47,000) for Anooshavan, and 500 million tomans (€23,600) each for Maryam and Abbas.
Others present at the gathering were summoned to MOIS offices for interrogation in the weeks following the raid and many were forced to sign commitments to refrain from any contact with other Christians.
Trial
Anooshavan, Maryam and Abbas were summoned to the 26th Branch of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran on 10 April 2022 to face charges of “propaganda activity against the system” and “acting against the country’s security through organisation and leadership of an Evangelical Christian house-church”.
They were sentenced on 11 April 2022 by Judge Iman Afshari, head of intelligence at court, who has built a reputation for harsh sentencing of Christians. He found Anooshavan guilty of “Establishing and leading an illegal group with the aim of disrupting the security of the country through educational and propaganda activities contrary to and disturbing to the holy religion of Islam, through the dissemination of false claims” and sentenced him to ten years in prison and ten years’ deprivation of social rights after his release.
Maryam and Abbas were convicted of “Membership of an illegal group with the aim of disrupting the security of the country through educational and propaganda activities contrary to and disturbing to the holy religion of Islam, through the dissemination of false claims“. They received a range of non-custodial punishments including the same ten-year deprivation of social rights plus two-year bans on travel abroad and membership of any political or social group, and two years’ exile from their home province of Tehran and adjacent provinces. They were also fined for being in possession of satellite receivers.
The only evidence brought against the Christians consisted of reports compiled by MOIS agents, including “confessions” extracted under duress. All three appealed against the verdict.
Judge Afshari admitted in his verdict that Anooshavan’s house church had only been created because of the forced closure in 2013 of the Central Assemblies of God Church in Tehran. Its leaders had been under constant pressure from intelligence agents to stop holding Persian-language meetings and hold services in Armenian only.
Ethnic Armenian and Assyrian Christians in Iran like Anooshavan are permitted to meet for worship, but only if they use their own ethnic languages, not the national language (Persian or Farsi). The vast majority of Iranian Christians are converts from Islam and they are not permitted to meet for worship in Persian, nor to join Armenian and Assyrian churches. They have no option but to meet for worship in secret house churches, constantly at risk of discovery and raids.
Sentence upheld on appeal
On 29 May 2022 Anooshavan’s lawyer Iman Soleimani was informed that Judge Abbasali Hozan of Branch 36 of Tehran’s appeal court had upheld Anooshavan’s ten-year sentence and the ten years’ deprivation of social rights after his release. While Anooshavan lost his appeal, Maryam and Abbas had their ten-year deprivation of social rights removed and their fines were reduced. Despite the lawyer’s repeated requests for the appeal hearing to take place in person, the ruling was made in absentia.
Mr Soleimani said the fact that the verdict was issued in under ten days demonstrated “insufficient study of the case by the appeal judges, dismissal of the defence, and unjust process”. He explained that the judges needed to study at least seven folders, each with about six hundred pages of documents, and consider an extensive defence bill detailing numerous legal challenges before the ruling could be passed. He added that as Anooshavan was not permitted to have a lawyer at his initial trial he was unable to defend himself adequately against the volume of accusations built up against him by interrogators.
Anooshavan’s case was passed on to the court responsible for executing judgements, from which point he could have been summoned to serve his sentence any day. Prison sentences in Iran do not automatically begin at the end of a trial, rather the sentenced person may be sent home to await a summons. While this allows extra time with family, it can be a traumatic wait for a summons that may come at any time.
On 2 August 2022 Anooshavan and Abbas were informed that their appeal for a retrial at the Supreme Court had been rejected; Maryam had been informed of the rejection of her request for a retrial on 16 July. Iman Soleimani said the Supreme Court had rejected his clients’ request out of hand, without even taking the time to look through the many documents he had provided.
On 13 September 2023 two plainclothes MOIS officers visited Anooshavan at his home and ordered him to present himself at Evin Prison to begin his sentence. He submitted himself to the authorities at the prison on 18 September and began serving his sentence.
Family
Anooshavan is married with two children.
TIMELINE
21 August 2020 Anooshavan Avedian was arrested in a raid on a Christian gathering at his home in Narmak, northeast Tehran. Ministry of Intelligence and Security agents took him to Tehran’s Evin Prison.
23 September 2020 Anooshavan was released after depositing property deeds to cover bail of 1 billion tomans (approximately €47,000).
10 April 2022 Anooshavan was summoned to the Revolutionary Court of Tehran to face charges of “propaganda activity against the system” and “acting against the country’s security through organisation and leadership of an Evangelical Christian house-church”.
11 April 2022 Judge Iman Afshari found Anooshavan guilty of “Establishing and leading an illegal group with the aim of disrupting the security of the country through educational and propaganda activities contrary to and disturbing to the holy religion of Islam, through the dissemination of false claims” and sentenced him to ten years in prison and ten years’ deprivation of social rights after his release.
29 May 2022 Anooshavan’s lawyer was informed that Judge Abbasali Hozan of Tehran’s appeal court had upheld Anooshavan’s sentence.
2 August 2022 Anooshavan was informed that his appeal for a retrial at the Supreme Court had been rejected.
13 September 2023 Ministry of Intelligence and Security agents visited Anooshavan at his home and told him he must present himself at Evin Prison to begin his sentence.
18 September 2023 Anooshavan submitted himself to the authorities at Evin Prison to begin serving his sentence.
Read more about the persecution of Christians in Iran.
(Article 18)
Photo: Article 18