Published on: 15 January 2024
BACKGROUND SUMMARY
In the summer of 2023, Hakop Gochumyan, an Armenian citizen, and his wife Elisa, a dual Iranian-Armenian citizen, were on vacation in Iran visiting Elisa’s extended family. Their two children, ages 7 and 10, were with the couple.
On the evening of August 15, as Hakop and Elisa visited friends in a suburb of Tehran, police raided the property, confiscating personal items and Christian literature. Agents then took the couple to Elisa’s grandmother’s house where the family was staying while in Iran and conducted a search of that property as well.
After the search was completed, Hakop and Elisa were arrested and taken to Evin prison where they were placed in solitary confinement and intensely interrogated. Elisa was eventually released on bail in October. Hapok has remained in prison. Reports state that his trial is to begin in January 2024.
Over 100 Christians were reported arrested throughout the summer of 2023 in what is being called an organized campaign against Believers.
Elisa is the daughter of Pastor Rafi Shahverdian (born in Iran on May 28, 1961, died in Armenia on January 19, 2023). Pastor Rafi was the founder and head pastor of People of God Church in Yerevan since 1993. He was also an author and founder of the first Christian kindergarten in Armenia, as well as an international speaker.
UPDATE: In June, judge Iman Afshari of Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran denied to hear Hakop’s appeal. According to Hakop’s lawyer, the state’s case was so weak that the judge applied Article 160 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code – allowing him to use “intuition” when making a decision in this case. The judge’s “intuition” led him to believe that in August 2023, when Hakop visited two Armenian churches and a Persian-language house church during his family’s summer holiday, and the confiscation of 7 Persian New Testaments amongst his possessions, was enough to find him guilty of “engaging in deviant proselytizing activity” and being a leader of a “network of evangelical churches.”
TIMELINE
August 15, 2023: Hakop Gochumyan and his wife Elisa arrested in Pardis, a suburb of Tehran.
September 2023: The couple’s two children are returned to Armenia with the help of a relative.
October 19, 2023: Elisa released on bail. Returned to Armenia to join her children.
January 7, 2023: Hapok’s trial to be held on charges of “propaganda against the state through the promotion of Christianity.”
February 2024: Sentenced to 10 years for illegal Christian activity. Hakop’s lawyer appealed the ruling.
July 2024: In June Hakop’s appeal was denied and the 10-year sentence for “engaging in deviant proselytizing activity that contradicts the sacred law of Islam” will stand.
PRAYER NEEDS
It is a well-known fact that prisoners undergo extreme suffering and torment at the hands of guards while imprisoned at Evin Prison.
Therefore, pray that the Lord protects Hakop’s life and grants him the faith and courage to be a light in a very dark place.
Keep Hakop’s wife and children in prayer. Though Elisa comes from a strong Christian family in Armenia, being a single mother to young children, separated from her husband and worried over his physical and spiritual condition is a very heavy burden to carry. Our prayers will help to lighten her load.
TAKE ACTION
We have a strong advocate in the US Commission on International Religious Freedom in Washington D.C. Write to the USCIRF today and encourage their diplomatic efforts on behalf of Hakop Gochumyan and others like him who have been imprisoned in Iran for taking a stand in the fight for religious freedom.
Send your letter to: (view sample letters here)
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom
Att: Chair Rabbi Abraham Cooper
732 N. Capitol Street, N.W., Suite A714, Washington, D.C. 20401
OR
We want to encourage Hakop Gochumyan as he awaits the results of his first court hearing. We urge you to write letters of encouragement and hope.
Letters can be sent to: (view sample letters here)
Prisoner, Hakop Gochumyan
Evin Prison, Ward 209
Tehran Province, District 2
Tehran, Iran
Be sure to sign your letter with your first name only. (Please read our Prayer & Action Useful Tips to familiarize yourself with important safety measures when corresponding with persecuted Christians in foreign countries.)
Address the envelop as follows:
