Christian woman persecuted by Iranian regime sentenced to 9 years in prison

A Christian convert in Iran has been sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison on charges linked to state security and anti-government activity after her Bible and Christian literature were seized during a January raid on her home.

Ghazal Marzban, a Catholic convert and former prisoner of conscience, was sentenced on charges including propaganda against the state and gathering and collusion against national security, Article18 reported.

The sentence was issued by Revolutionary Court Judge Iman Afshari, who was recently sanctioned by the European Union and has issued harsh sentences against political prisoners, including Christians.

Marzban was rearrested in January at her home in Tehran. Her Bible and other Christian books were confiscated, and she was taken to an undisclosed location without an explanation for the arrest.

Two hours after the arrest, Marzban called her husband and said she was being held at a Ministry of Intelligence detention centre. She then had no contact with her family for the next month.

During interrogation, Marzban was pressed to admit that her Bible and Christian literature had been used for evangelical activity. She denied the claim and said the material was for personal use, adding that as a Christian she had the right to possess it.

Marzban had spent two months in Evin Prison in 2024 after being convicted of propaganda against the regime by chanting slogans. She had first been arrested in November 2024 after protesting against harassment that followed her conversion to Catholicism seven years earlier.

After her conversion, Marzban, an Islamic law graduate, was barred from taking her bar examination and pressured to leave Iran. Her husband, also a convert, has been unable to obtain medication needed to manage Parkinson’s disease.

Mansour Borji, Article18’s executive director, said Marzban’s sentence was in reality a sentence for both spouses because of her husband’s medical condition.

The arrest came days after thousands of protesters were killed, including at least 22 Christians.

At least 19 Christians were killed by Iranian security forces during a crackdown on anti-government protests, with the documented toll rising after two Christian converts were shot during January demonstrations, according to a previous report by Article18, a U.K.-based organisation that monitors religious freedom in Iran, as reported by The Christian Post.

Iranian authorities restrict religious freedom and impose arrests, long prison terms and harsh treatment on Christians, especially converts from Islam, because officials treat their faith activity as a state security threat.

In December, five Iranian Christians received prison sentences totalling 50 years after convictions tied to prayer gatherings, baptisms and Bible distribution under amended penal code provisions enforced by Tehran’s Revolutionary Court.

Judge Abolqasem Salavati issued 10-year terms to four defendants and an eight-year sentence to another. One woman also received two extra years linked to social media activity.

Authorities accused the group of collusion and propaganda against the state, delayed formal notice of the verdicts for weeks after hearings and allowed only 20 days for appeals before the same court.

Two defendants had previously served prison terms connected to house church activity. Authorities demanded bail amounts reaching about $130,000 and nearly $250,000 in separate cases.

One prisoner with rheumatoid arthritis fractured her spine after falling from a bunk in custody. She returned from hospital without full treatment and later developed infection complications that required renewed medical care.

Court documents referred to a 2010 speech by then Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei that cast house churches as a national security threat. Officials confiscated Christian texts and Bibles from the defendants and sent the material to the Ministry of Intelligence for review during legal proceedings.

Street protests first erupted in Iran on Dec. 28 amid economic pressure and public anger toward the country’s leadership. The demonstrations spread to more than 100 cities and towns in all provinces.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency confirmed more than 7,000 protester deaths. Iranian authorities acknowledged at least 3,000 fatalities and attributed some deaths to members of the security forces.