By BosNewsLife Middle East Service
TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)– The detained Assyrian pastor of an evangelical church in Iran has been tortured and told he may be executed for converting Muslims to Christianity and related charges, his wife and Christians with close knowledge about his situation said.
State Security agents detained Reverend Wilson Issavi, 65, of the Evangelical Church of Karmanshah on February 2 in a friend’s home in the city of Isfahan, some 340 kilometers (212 miles) south of the capital Tehran, reported the Farsi Christian News Network (FCNN) which has close contacts with Iranian Christians.
The pastors’ wife, Medline Nazanin, said in published remarks that he had “visible marks of torture” when she visited him in prison. Her claims could not immediately be verified, but several rights groups and former Iranian prisoners have complained about abuses in detention centers.
Iranian officials are not known to have commented on the case.
“DEATH SENTENCE”
She was reportedly told by prison authorities that her husband is accused of “performing baptism” and “converting Muslims to Christianity” and is “awaiting his trial and his death sentence”.
His detention came as news emerged that on February 28, security forces also raided the house of Hamid Shafiee and his wife, Reyhaneh Aghajari, two of Isfahan’s known house-church leaders.
The couple was arrested and taken to an unknown location and a number of their personal belongings including books and compact disks were seized by the agents, Christians said.
In recent few months under government’s pressure the Assemblies of God Church had to stop Friday evening meetings and the Assyrian Pentecostal church of ‘Shahre-Ara’ in Tehran was forced to close its doors, according to church groups familiar with these cases.
EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS
Other evangelical oriented Christians have also been detained in recent weeks in the Isfahan area and other towns and cities, reported International Christian Concern, one of several rights organizations investigating the plight of Christians in Iran.
Under Iran’s strict interpretation of Islam, “apostasy” can carry a death penalty and at least a long prison term.
Church organizations say authorities are cracking down on devoted Christians in Iran, especially targeting those converting from Islam to Christianity. (With reporting by BosNewsLife’s Stefan J. Bos).
Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
—Matthew 5:10-12
FREE HIM!!!
Free this innocent man of God from this brutality against Christians! This persecution needs to stop immediately. These innocent people are being treated as criminals. That they are not! Please United States do something to stop this!! Enough Christians have been murdered. It is enough! I pray in Jesus’ name that this savage behavior is stopped!
Yet another quality post. I put in a plug for this blog at mine.
@Sarah,
This regime in Iran is killing innocent people everyday and yet you are outraged over one person. Is it because he is a Christian and the rest are not? We need to be outraged at the way this government is treating all its citizens!!!!
Sarah says she wants the United States to do something to stop this. What exactly can the United States do? While religious persecution is not good for any religion, the United States is currently involved in conflicts that will not be won. The world is as it is. The United States can no longer be the worlds police. Intolerance is a part of all world religions. Iran is doing this mainly to get a reaction from the west. Since you believe, all you can do is pray. Outrage is a tool for Iran. We cannot afford anymore lives lost, over a situation, that will in the end be whatever it may be. This is a problem for the Iranian people to deal with. For thinking people to become angry at actions such as these, is understandable, but in the end result, there is nothing that other countries can do. Iran is hardly a country worth to be invaded, by any other country. They will disolve into history, after destroying themselves, and the world will be better off.
Christians are Blessed for they are tortured internationally.
PLEASE PRAY FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTRIES
Romans 12:14 Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.
Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Persecution in the recent past- PLEASE PRAY
Sri Lanka :44 Churches have been attacked and so far
104 Churches have been closed.
Iraq :52 Churches have been attacked with Bombs
2, 00,000 Have been fled to Jordan, Syria and Turkey
50,000 Are in North Iraq, Refugee camps
Pakistan :350 Christian houses have been looted
100 Christian houses have been burnt to ashes.Many Churches have been burnt to ashes in Bombings
50, 00,000 Christians are ill treated and many are forced to do mean jobs like clean the toilets etc many are killed, harassed , raped, and are hiding in underground and many are imprisoned.
Cuba :10,000 to 15,000 Home churches are there and many are facing
severe restrictions to worship, worship services have been stopped and the permission from the government has been restrained.
Malaysia :No job opportunities for Christians in Malaysia, Higher Jobs are
Constrained to Christians. Funeral services are restrained.
Indonesia :10,000 Christians have been killed for their faith, and the
Government has issued a Fatwa to other religions not to stay in Indonesia.
Nigeria : Many Christians have been killed, Introduced “Shari at” law
forcing Christian women to wear “Burkas”.
Labia : Many are willing to come into faith to accept Jesus Christ, for
which many are tortured and prisoned and the family members are not allowed to see them.
China : In many registered Churches the worship services have been
Stopped and many have been detained, sent to Labor camps and are imprisoned. kept behind bars even though judges rule no case to answer.
Somalia : Many Christians are beheaded for their faith by the militant,
terrorists groups.
Tanzania : Many Churches have been burnt to ashes and Militants have
threatened to burn Christian homes if they establish any churches in the country.
India : At least 60 Christians have been killed and 18,000 injured in
anti-Christian violence up to 70,000 forced to flee their homes as riots against Christians in Orissa.
Iran : The Iranian parliament votes overwhelmingly for a new law to
execute Muslims who convert to another religion.
North Korea : A new report claims up to 70,000 Christians are held in prison
camps