The Rask Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office sent a communiqué summoning Ebrahim Firouzi, a Christian convert who is serving his exile in this county.
According to the Campaign for the Defense of Political and Civil Prisoners, Ebrahim Firouzi, a Christian convert who was released from Raja’i Shahr Prison in Karaj on Saturday, October 26, 2019 after serving a 5-year sentence, and had been serving a 2-year exile sentence in Rask since November last year, upon receipt of a communiqué, must appear in the Rask Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office within five days to defend himself against the charge of “propaganda activities against the state.”
According to this communiqué, which was issued on Saturday, September 26th (2020), Ebrahim Firouzi must appear within 5 days in the Rask Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, southeast of the country, to defend himself against the charges against him.
Ebrahim Firouzi, 36, was a lathe worker living in Robat Karim (south-east of Tehran) and as the oldest Christian prisoner involved in court and prison since 2011.
After being summoned twice by security organs, this Christian convert was arrested in January 2010 for propaganda activities and transferred to Raja’i Shahr Prison in Karaj. According to a reliable source, he was told during interrogations that he would be released if he declared himself a Muslim, otherwise he would be tried.
In this case, Ebrahim Firouzi was charged with “propaganda against the state” and “insulting the sanctities” for converting to Christianity and propagation.
He was acquitted of “insulting the sanctities”, but he was sentenced by the Karaj Revolutionary Court to 5 months in prison and 5 months suspended imprisonment for propaganda against the state.
The sentence was upheld by the Court of Appeals and he was released from Raja’i Shahr Prison in Karaj on June 8, 2011.
He was rearrested in March 2013 on charges of religious propaganda and distributing books on Christianity, and was released on bail after 2 months in custody. But in 2014, he was arrested for the third time and sentenced by the Revolutionary Court of Robat Karim to 1 year in prison and to 2 years banishment to Sarbaz County in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, one of the deprived provinces of the country, on charges of “propaganda against the Islamic Republic”, “forming and leading a deviant Christian evangelical organization” and “conducting a Christian website.”
He was not granted a single day furlough during this time. In December 2018, his mother died of a disease far from her child, but this imprisoned Christian convert was not allowed to attend his mother’s funeral.
Ebrahim Firouzi’s imprisonment ended, but he was banished to Sarbaz County in Sistan and Baluchestan Province for 2 years.
The bad conditions inside the prison have seriously damaged Ebrahim Firouzi’s physical status, and he is severely physically weak and has been denied medical services several times during his sentence.
Despite the difficult conditions inside the prison and under most severe mental and physical pressures, Ebrahim supported the people’s protests against the Islamic Republic, including truckers’ strike.
He had also on a hunger strike since the morning of Wednesday, December 30, 2015, following the authorities’ disregard for the demands of political prisoner “Arjang Davoudi” and in support of this political prisoner jailed in Ward 10 of the prison.