Advocates for religious freedom for Christians have said they’re concerned for the wellbeing of Amir-Ali Minaei, a 31-year-old who was arrested in Iran for “propaganda activities against the regime through establishing a house-church”.
Minaei, a convert to Christianity, was arrested in December 2023 and interrogated. Although he was released on bail for the equivalent of £8,000, he was later sentenced to 3 years and 7 months in prison.
Following, and indeed possibly due to, his arrest and interrogation, Minaei developed a heart condition. Minaei has pleaded with the authorities multiple times to refer him to a cardiologist.
Not only have such requests been denied, but on the last occasion, a jail officer allegedly beat Minaei, striking him directly on the chest.
Minaei applied for conditional release in January of this yr, nevertheless his request was denied by Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence.
Open Doors, which campaigns against the persecution of Christians, and its partner organisation, Article 18, have said they’re seriously concerned about Minaei’s welfare, especially as Persian New Year just isn’t far-off, and it might turn into even harder to acquire the suitable medical treatment.
Mansour Borji, from Article 18, said, “We are outraged by the denial of medical treatment to Amir-Ali and particularly by his recent beating. With the Persian New Year about to begin, we’re increasingly concerned about his health and wellbeing. He is a young man whose only ‘offence’ was to fulfill along with his fellow Christians.”
Borji added a requirement for Minaei to be released and called upon the Iranian government to stop its persecution of house churches, that are of special significance as “the one places of worship available to Iranian Christians who want to worship together of their mother tongue, because the churches of Iran’s Armenian and Assyrian minorities are off-limits to Persian-speakers”.
