Published on: 16 February 2023
DOHI NEWS
On Thursday, February 9th, Zaman (Saheb) Fadaie was released from Tehran’s Evin prison after serving less than 5 years of a 6-year sentence for “acting against national security by propagating house-churches and promoting ‘Zionist’ Christianity.”
Fadaie’s unexpected release is part of a proposal approved by the leader of the Islamic Revolution, the Ayatollah Khamenei, who agreed to pardon or commute the sentences of a large number of Iranian prisoners on the occasion of the 44th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
In a Tweet, @khamenei.ir said, “On the 44th anniversary of the victory of the #IslamicRevolution, Imam Khamenei agreed to the suggestion of the Head of the Judiciary to pardon or reduce the sentences of a significant number of convicts from the recent riots, those convicted in public courts, and others.”
Fadaie was one of four Christian converts (along with Yousef Nadarkhani, Yasser Mossayebzadeh, and Youhan Omidi) arrested in 2016 and later sentenced in 2017 by the Revolutionary Court in Tehran to serve a 10-year prison sentence for his “crimes” of taking part in house churches and sharing his Christian faith.
In July 2018 Fadaie began serving his 10-year term. In 2020 his prison term was reduced to 6 years.
In February 18, 2021, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention published an opinion that the continued detention of Iranian church leader Yousef Nadarkhani is arbitrary. Of the four Christian prisoners, only Yousef Nadarkhani remains in prison.
