Mehdi Akbari

Mehdi Akbari

Mehdi (Yaser) Akbari is a Christian convert. He was sentenced to prison for his faith.

  • <coverage-outsourcing id='52902'> <reference source='https://articleeighteen.com/fa/news/14230/'> Mehdi Akbari returned to Iran to take care of his son. According to the letter published by Mr. Akbari, upon his arrival in Iran, his passport was confiscated and sometime later, while he was involved in his son's treatment, he was arrested by IRGC Intelligence. With the arrest of Mr. Akbari, the guardianship of his child, who suffers from a congenital disease, was entrusted to a care center. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
  • <coverage-outsourcing id='33530'> <reference source='https://articleeighteen.com/fa/news/christians/3591/'> According to Article 18, four Christian converts were sentenced to prison by the Tehran Revolutionary Court. This verdict was delivered to them today in Branch 28 of Tehran Revolutionary Court headed by Judge Moghiseh. According to the published report, Fatemeh Sharifi, Simin Sohailinia, and Mehdi Akbari were each sentenced to 10 years in prison, and the court also sentenced Mehdi Rouhparvar, the other accused in this case, to five years in prison. Except for Mr. Rouhparvar, who has doubts about his charge, the rest of the people have been sentenced to prison based on the charge of "forming dissident groups" under Article 498 of the Islamic Civil Code by starting a house church. The case of Mehdi Rouhparvar's accusation is similar to other defendants, but it is not possible to express a clear opinion about the legal article that led to his conviction. However, the evidence shows that Mehdi Rouhparvar was either sentenced to prison for the same charges as the other people in the case, or the judge issued a sentence for "membership in groups opposing the regime" citing Article 499 of the Criminal Code. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
  • <coverage-outsourcing id='33534'> <reference source='https://articleeighteen.com/fa/news/christians/3591/'> According to the Article 18 report, Mehdi Akbari and Mehdi Rouhparvar are now being held in Ward 4 of Evin Prison, and the status of the other two defendants is unclear. For this reason, the profiles of Fatemeh Sharifi and Simin Sohailinia are currently in the "free with vague details" status. It should be noted that there is no information about the basic details of this case, including the time of arrest, and after obtaining additional reports, the profiles of these prisoners will be updated. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
  • <coverage-outsourcing id='52899'> <reference source='https://articleeighteen.com/fa/news/14230/'> He went on leave three days late to attend his son's funeral. According to the Article 18 report, his 18-year-old son was suffering from a congenital disease and was kept in a medical center after his father's arrest. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
  • <coverage-outsourcing id='52900'> <reference source='https://articleeighteen.com/fa/news/14230/'> Mehdi Akbari wrote in a letter that Iran's judiciary has sentenced him to prison on "false" charges. In this letter, which was published by Article 18 website, he described the violations that he experienced in the past few years. In a part of this letter, he stated that while in temporary detention, he was deprived of the right to access a lawyer and communicate with his family, and that IRGC Intelligence interrogators subjected him to "extreme white torture" by keeping him in solitary confinement and applying psychological pressure to "frame him" and "impose" on him "s predetermined scenario". This Christian prisoner adds that in prison they wanted to "make me an example for my fellow believers." According to his letter, the judge was far "worse" than the interrogators. He explained: > The judge of the case had presumed my criminality so thoughtlessly that he even forgot that Jews and Christians are followers of two separate religions. He declared me a follower of the religion of "Christianity" and "a Jew affiliated with Israel". The court ruling is a joke. He further added: > In my surprise and disbelief, the Court of Appeal and the Superior Court, regardless of these issues, confirmed the above verdict! Now that I have spent three years in prison for that sentence, I still don't know how I was able to act against Iran's national security by being a follower of Christ. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>