Abdolreza (Matthias) Haghnejad | Iran

Temporarily Released 1 January 2022

Convert to Christianity Abdolreza (Matthias) Haghnejad was arrested on Feb. 10, 2019 when agents of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard raided the house church gathering in Rasht where Pastor Matthias was ministering. The agents confiscated Bibles and mobile phones during the raid. Khalil Dehkanpour, Hossein (Elisha) Kadivar, Kamal Naamanian, Mohammed Vafada, Shahrooz Eslamdous, Babak Hosseinzadeh, Mehdi Khatibi and Behnam Akhlaghi, who are all members of the same church, were also arrested between Jan. 29 and Feb. 23, 2019. In March, seven of the nine men were released on bail at that time to await sentencing, while Pastor Matthias and Shahrooz Eslamdous remained in custody.

On July 24, at a preliminary hearing, Pastor Matthias and the eight others were accused of “acting against national security” and “promoting Zionism.”

Judge Mohammed Moghiseh, who earned the nickname the “judge of death”, rejected the lawyer representing five of the defendants, and they, in turn, rejected an alternate appointed by the court. Angered, the judge transferred the pastor, Shahrooz Eslamdous, Babak Hosseinzadeh, Mehdi Khatibi and Behnam Akhlaghi straight to Evin Prison, where they remain in Ward 4.

The converts lost their appeal against the five-year prison sentences, though neither they nor their lawyers were allowed to attend the Feb. 25, 2020 hearing.

All nine men are from the northern city of Rasht and are members of the Church of Iran. The church’s pastor, Yousef

Prison Address