Iranian Believer Remains in Custody Despite Making Bail
by Joseph DeCaro, Worthy News Correspondent
TEHRAN, IRAN (Worthy News)– Farshid Fathi was in solitary confinement for months before he was told that he could be free on $200,000 bail according to Mohabat News.
With great difficulty, his family came up with the cash after selling his father-in-law’s home, but when Fathi was ready to to walk out the prison door, the chief interrogator from the Iranian public prosecutor’s office ordered him back for further questioning.
Using psychological torture, interogaters eventually forced Farthi to provide a list of all the individuals he evangelized, as well as any foreign contacts.
According to Article 128 of the Iranian Criminal Code, prisoners awaiting trial are entitled to choose their own lawyers, but judiciary officials denied Fathi his right to legal advice.
Fathi is 32 years old; he has a 7 year-old daughter named Rosana and a todler named Barbod.
Last year, in a series of organized raids, Iranian intelligence agents arrested Fathi along with hundreds of other Christians and home church members in Tehran and other cities; the agents informed their families that they were under arrest for apostasy, promoting Christianity and having contacts with foreign organizations.
Like Fathi, many imprisoned for Christ were placed in solitary confinement where they were subjected to intense and lengthy interrogations in section 209, the “political wing” of Evin prison.
Iran’s continued persecution of religious minorities violates the principles of the “International Covenant on Civil and Political rights”; as a signatory to that covenant, Iran is legally and morally obligated to adhere to its standards for freedom and civil rights.
Read more about the Christian Persecution in Iran