Photo: AFP
A bookshop owner in the city of Bukan, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran was arrested by the intelligence agencies for selling the Bible, and sentenced to jail, sources say.
Iranian Christian news agency, Mohabat News, reported on Thursday that Mr Mustafa Rahimi was sentenced to six months and one day of imprisonment by 101st Branch of the Bukan Public Revolutionary Court.
Sources close to the family of Mustafa, while speaking to Mohabat News, confirmed his arrest on charges of selling the Bible.
The Kurdish human rights group Hengaw Organization for Human Rights said Mustafa had previously been detained on 11 June, 2019, and that he was released later on bail until the court issued his sentence.
Informed sources told Mohabat News that he was summoned to detention a few days later and is held in the Bukan Central Prison.
The Islamic Republic of Iran has severely restricted access to books with Christian content, as well as the prohibition of publishing, copying, and selling these books with severe punishment.
Mohabat News reports that dozens of Iranian citizens have been arrested and sent to prison on charges of acting against national security through the propaganda of Christianity this year.
“The government severely oppresses and violates the rights of religious minorities, especially Persian-speaking Christians. As a result, for them, there is no other way than to seek asylum in other countries,” the website reports. ” The anger and violence that erupted after the revolution against the Christians led the Iranians to begin researching Christianity themselves. Nowadays, Iranian churches are widely recognized worldwide and are among the fastest-growing churches in the world.”
