Iranian Christian Ghazal Marzban is serving a sentence of nine years and eight months in Tehran’s Evin Prison on charges of “propaganda against the state” and “gathering and collusion against national security”. She is due for release on 14 September 2035. Ghazal and her husband have faced years of restrictions and harassment since converting from Islam.
Ghazal Marzban (43) is originally from Lasht-e Nesha in Rasht county, Gilan province. She was first arrested in Tehran, where she now lives, in November 2024 and spent two months in prison after protesting against the harassment she had endured since converting to Catholicism seven years previously. A law graduate, she was prevented from taking the bar examination and pressurised to leave the country.
Ghazal and her husband, who is also a convert, have faced years of systematic restrictions and obstruction by state institutions, including difficulties obtaining essential medication to manage his Parkinson’s disease. She was arrested again in January 2026, charged with “propaganda against the state” and “gathering and collusion against national security” and sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison.
Arrested January 2026
On 15 January 2026 intelligence agents arrested Ghazal after a raid on her home in Tehran. They confiscated her Bible and other Christian literature and took her away to an unknown location, giving no explanation for the rearrest. Two hours later Ghazal called home to report that she was in a Ministry of Intelligence detention centre, but for the next month she was held incommunicado.
Ghazal was reportedly pressurised during interrogations to admit that the Bible and other Christian literature had been used for evangelism but she denied this, saying they were for personal use only. She was charged with “propaganda against the state” and “gathering and collusion against national security” and in May 2026 the notorious Revolutionary Court judge Iman Afshari, who is known for handing down harsh sentences to many Christians and political prisoners, sentenced her to nine years and eight months in prison.
Ghazal went on hunger strike on 25 May in protest against her sentencing and was soon reported to be “in a deteriorating physical condition”. She ended the hunger strike after eleven days at the request of friends who had expressed serious concern.
On 14 July 2026 Ghazal was beaten after she protested against overcrowding in the women’s ward of Evin Prison following the arrival of fifty new prisoners. She suffered a fracture of the left hand, causing her severe pain.
In September 2026 Ghazal went on hunger strike to protest against being denied access to a Bible and being threatened with death for apostasy. She was reportedly told that only Iranians born into Christian families have the right to possess a Bible in prison, not converts, and ordered by a judge to sign a letter of repentance and record a video recanting the Christian faith or face capital punishment for apostasy.
In late September it was reported that Ghazal was one of at least 23 prisoners in the women’s ward to be stripped of family visiting rights following protests over deteriorating prison conditions and abusive practices by ward officials and security guards. Ghazal received a seven-week ban, which followed shortly after the end of a previous four-month ban. Authorities also confiscated her books and personal belongings, with no time frame given for the restrictions.
Previously arrested November 2024
On 5 November 2024 officers of the Law Enforcement Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran (FARAJA) detained Ghazal near Tehran’s Vali-e-Asr Square for chanting protest slogans and took her to the Vozara detention centre in Tehran before transferring her to Evin Prison two days later. During her arrest she sustained serious rib injuries.
On 10 December 2024 she was charged with “propaganda against the regime by chanting slogans” and “failing to observe mandatory hijab”. On 22 December she began a five-day hunger strike to protest against her arrest and the lack of movement in her case. On 30 December she was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment and 74 lashes for the propaganda charge, but the charge relating to hijab was dropped. She was released on 4 January 2025 after completing one third of her custodial sentence, with the remainder plus the lashes to be enforced should she “reoffend”.
Raped in detention
In August 2026 the Persian-language news agency HRANA published a letter written by Ghazal in which she reported being raped in a Ministry of Intelligence detention facility during a brief detention in May 2023. She said the authorities repeatedly threatened her into silence over the intervening years and explained that she had written the letter to “seek justice for the suffering that the Ministry of Intelligence has inflicted upon my life”.
Ghazal wrote that on 17 May 2023 she was detained by four men and a woman while walking in a park and was blindfolded and taken away to an underground cell in what she later learned was a Ministry of Intelligence detention facility. She said she was “crying continuously and pleading with them to let me go” and that she was left on the floor in a large pool of blood. She said she was still suffering from the psychological effect of the incident.
Ghazal wrote that officials who released her after the rape warned her not to speak about the incident and also stated that later attempts to file a complaint were met with obstruction and threats.
Following her arrest in January 2026, Ghazal was taken to the same detention centre and she wrote in her letter that “during the 22 days I spent in the Ministry of Intelligence’s detention facility, my greatest torment was the fear that the horrific incident would be repeated”.
Family
Ghazal’s husband is also a convert and has had difficulties accessing medication to manage his Parkinson’s disease. Article 18’s executive director Mansour Borji commented that due to his condition Ghazal’s sentencing was in reality “a sentence for both of them”.
TIMELINE
5 November 2024 Ghazal was detained in Tehran for chanting protest slogans and taken to the Vozara detention centre. She sustained serious rib injuries.
7 November 2024 Ghazal was transferred to Evin Prison.
10 December 2024 Ghazal was charged with “propaganda against the regime by chanting slogans” and “failing to observe mandatory hijab”.
22 December 2024 Ghazal began a five-day hunger strike to protest against her arrest and the lack of movement in her case.
30 December 2024 Ghazal was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment and 74 lashes for the propaganda charge, but the charge relating to hijab was dropped.
4 January 2025 Ghazal was released after completing one-third of her custodial sentence, with the remainder plus the lashes to be enforced should she “reoffend”.
15 January 2026 Ghazal was arrested again after a raid on her home in Tehran and taken to a Ministry of Intelligence detention centre where she was held incommunicado for a month. She was interrogated and charged with “propaganda against the state” and “gathering and collusion against national security”.
May 2026 Ghazal was sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison.
25 May 2026 Ghazal went on hunger strike in protest against her sentencing, ending it after eleven days at the request of friends who had expressed serious concern about her deteriorating condition.
14 July 2026 Ghazal was beaten after she protested against overcrowding in the women’s ward of Evin Prison. She suffered a fracture of the left hand, causing her severe pain.
August 2026 HRANA published a letter in which Ghazal reported being raped in a Ministry of Intelligence detention facility during a brief detention in May 2023. She said authorities had threatened her into silence.
September 2026 Ghazal went on hunger strike to protest against being denied access to a Bible and being threatened with death for apostasy. It was also reported that she was placed under a seven-week ban on family visiting rights following protests over prison conditions and abusive practices by staff – it followed soon after a previous four-month ban. Authorities also confiscated her books and personal belongings.
Read more about the persecution of Christians in Iran.
(Article 18, Hengaw, Human Rights Activists News Agency, Voice of the Martyrs)
Photo: Article 18