Article18 is calling on the Iranian government to immediately release Christian prisoner of conscience Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh, and to stop prosecuting Christian converts like him.

Nasser, who celebrated his 60th birthday on 3 August, has been in Tehran’s Evin Prison since January 2018.

He’s serving a 10-year sentence for his membership of a house-church.

Nasser has appealed for a retrial on three occasions, but each time his request has been denied.

He also recently applied for parole, having served over one-third of his sentence.

Again, his request was denied.

Before his imprisonment, Nasser was his elderly mother’s primary carer.

Having been led to believe he would be granted parole, he had encouraged his mother he would soon be able to return to her.

But their wait to be reunited goes on.

On his 60th birthday, his mother called for her son’s release, saying “he has done nothing; he only became a Christian”.

During his incarceration, Nasser has written several open letters querying why his membership of a house-church was deemed an “action against national security”.

“Is the fellowship of a few Christian brothers and sisters in someone’s home, singing worship songs, reading the Bible and worshipping God acting against national security?” he asked in one letter.

As a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Iran has a binding obligation to respect and protect the right to religious freedom, including the freedom to choose or to change one’s beliefs.

Please join with us in calling for Nasser’s immediate release!