Iran releases Protestant pastor and 10 Christians accused of proselytizing and apostasy
Tehran (AsiaNews / Agencies) - After
560 days in jail, Iranian authorities freed
Noorollah Qabitizade (see photo Mohabat News),
a Protestant pastor, and 10 other
Muslim converts to Christianity. They were arrested in
2010 during an illegal celebration of
Christmas in Dezful.
Their case is linked to large-scale operation launched in 2010 by Tehran to stop proselytism and conversions to Christianity, which has led to more than 60 arrests.
Noorollah Qabitizade, 48, was released last July
17 from Karoon prison in the southwestern city of Ahwaz, on
the orders of the courts of the province of Khuzestan.
In 19 months in detention, the man changed prison several
times. To convince him to abandon Christianity, jailers tortured him and locked him up in solitary confinement.
At present it is unclear why he was released. Local
sources claim that the release of
Qabitizade and 10
other Christians is the result
of the international campaign in favor
of Youcef
Nadrkhani, a Protestant clergyman sentenced to death for apostasy in
2009.
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