TEHRAN, Iran — Two women are still being held in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison after refusing to deny Jesus Christ and return to Islam.
Maryam Rostampour, 27, and Marzieh Amirizadeh, 30, were detained by Iranian security officers in March after being arrested on grounds of being “anti-government” and “a threat to national security,” according to freethemm.com, a Web site dedicated to winning their release. At an Aug. 9 hearing in Tehran’s revolutionary court, the two learned the sole charge against them is apostasy — leaving Islam. When the judge told them they would be executed if they did not recant their faith, the two reportedly told him to expedite the sentence.
The pair subsequently were returned to the prison, where friends say their health is deteriorating because of unsanitary conditions and lack of medical care, the Web site reported. Authorities set bail of $400,000, and their families have offered the deeds to their homes, but apparently no judge is willing to review the case.
In mid-September, women dressed in white gathered outside Iran’s embassy in London for a prayer vigil supported by the advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).
“Neither woman has committed a crime under Iranian or international law. We wholeheartedly stand in solidarity with Maryam and Marzieh, who are being held solely on the basis of exercising their most basic right: freedom of thought, conscience and belief,” CSW’s Mervyn Thomas said in a statement released after the demonstration. “Scores of illegal detentions of Christian converts in Iran” have been reported this year, Thomas added. “We strongly urge the Iranian government to release these innocent women immediately.”
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