8th July, 2015
Iranian Christian prisoner, Pastor Farshid Fathi, has been told the good news by prison officials, that he will be released on 10th December this year. He had previously expected to remain in prison until December 2017.
“Farshid received the official notification on 4th July, 2015,” said a spokesperson for Elam Ministries UK. “This is positive news, which has greatly encouraged Farshid and his family. We join them in praising God for this development, and for those who have made it possible."
"Please continue to pray for Farshid during his final months in Rajai Shahr prison, Iran.”
Farshid Fathi is incarcerated in Iran”s brutal Rajai Shahr prison, just outside of Karaj, for the “crime” of practicing his Christian faith and ministry work, and he is being held in the same prison as Iranian-American Christian Pastor, Saeed Abedini, is being held and who is serving Saeed Abedini on an eight-year sentence for his Christian faith.
According to Elam Ministries UK, Farshid”s friends invariably have describe him as loving, cheerful, selfless and faithful, and always eager to help and serve others. He became a Christian at age 17 and has always been passionate about his faith. He is married with two young children, Rosanna and Bardia.
He was arrested at his home in Tehran on 26th December, 2010, by agents of the Intelligence Ministry and initially was taken to the infamous Evin Prison in northwestern Tehran, where up until February, 2011, he was held in solitary confinement and was subjected to long, harsh, interrogation sessions on a regular basis. Then for a year, he was held in a small cell with one other person in Section 209 of the prison where prisoners have been held both before and after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and where, due to the number of intellectuals that the prison housed, it was nicknamed “Evin University”.
Finally, on 5th February, 2012, Farshid was brought to trial at Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, and is convicted by Judge Salavati of “action against the national security, through cooperating with foreign organisations and evangelism”, and sentenced to a total of six years” imprisonment. He was then moved to section 350 of Evin.
On 23rd May, 2012, Farshid”s appeal hearing occurs and the following month, a verdict was issued: it upheld the verdict of the February court.
Because of the danger to themselves, Farshid”s family were resettled in Canada where they had been offered refuge, and on 26th December, 2013, a day of prayer for Farshid was held around the world to mark the third anniversary of his imprisonment.
On 19th August, 2014, Farshid was transferred to Rajai Shahr prison in Karaj, for unknown reasons, and the following month, he spent his 35th birthday in the prison. Then on 26th December, 2014, another day of prayer for Farshid was held on the fourth anniversary of his imprisonment, but during that month, he was hauled before the court and sentenced to a further year in prison on false charges. His lawyer had applied to appeal.
– DAN WOODING, ASSIST News Service
