Christian Convert, Mostafa Bordbar, Released from Evin Prison
Monday, 04 November 2013
An appeals court has acquitted Mostafa Bordbar from all charges and he was released from Evin prison in Tehran.
According to Mohabat News, Mostafa Bordbar, a Christian resident of Rasht (Northern Iran) was released from Evin prison after spending eleven months behind bars.
The appeals court was held on October 30, 2013 in Branch 43 of the Revolution Court of Tehran and was chaired by Judge Salimi.
Mostafa Bordbar appeared in court and was granted an opportunity to defend himself regarding the charges against him. As a result the court dropped all charges and he was released from prison on Sunday November 3.
Earlier, on June 09, 2013 an initial court had sentenced the Christian man to ten years in prison. The initial court had been held in Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran.
The ten year prison sentence had been issued by Judge Pir-Abbasi and delivered to Bordbar's lawyer, Ms. Shima Ghousheh on July 31, 2013.
Shima Ghousheh is also a member of Human Rights Commission in Iran. She appealed the decision and said that she was hopeful that with statements she prepared the charges would be dropped in the appeals court.
As a result of the initial court ruling, Mostafa Bordbar had been sentenced to five years in prison for being a member of a dissident group and an additional five years for forming gatherings (house-churches) intended to undermine national security. So, the court sentenced this young Christian man to 10 years of imprisonment.
Mostafa Bordbar was held in ward 350 of Evin prison together with a few other Christian prisoners, including Farshid Fathi and Alireza Seyyedian (a member of the non-Trinitarian Christian group).
It should be remembered that Mostafa Bordbar had been arrested on December 27, 2012 during a Christmas celebration in Tehran together with about 50 other Farsi-speaking Christians. These Christian believers had gathered in a house in northern Tehran in order to worship the Lord and celebrate Christmas.
Mostafa Bordbar was born in 1986. On another occasion, he had been arrested in 2009 in Rasht for converting to Christianity and for attending a house-church. He was found guilty of "apostasy", however he was released later on bail. This has remained as a criminal record for him.
It is worth mentioning that earlier, two Christian woman prisoners, Mitra Zahmati and Maryam Jalili who had each been sentenced to two and a half years in prison were released right before President Rouhani's trip to New York to attend UN Genral Assembly. Also several other prisoners of conscience were released with them. Their release happened while only one month remained to complete their two and a half year prison term.
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