Kavian was sentenced to 10 years in prison following his arrest at a Christmas gathering in 2014.

The Christian convert was held in solitary confinement for 23 days, and even his glasses were taken away from him.

Kavian says the agents told him that if he “cooperated”, they would reduce his punishment, but that if he refused he’d be held for so long that his hair would “turn white like your teeth”.

Kavian fled Iran while his case was at the appeal stage and later found out his appeal was rejected.

Since leaving Iran, Kavian says he has lived in “complete uncertainty”.

“I registered as an asylum seeker at the United Nations,” he said in 2020, “but after years not only was I not interviewed, but I am still in an unstable situation in Turkey, and still the situation really isn’t clear. So I have no clear vision for the future.”

Kavian says he was particularly disappointed when his application for a humanitarian visa to live in Australia was rejected.

“That was a big shock for me,” he says. “I really didn’t expect that such a heavy sentence would be handed down to me, and then that a country that accepts asylum seekers would reject my case, and that this very severe psychological pressure would be placed on me.”

Kavian married Atefeh in Turkey in 2021 and was finally interviewed by the Turkish immigration office in September 2022. However, he is still awaiting their decision.

For more about Kavian, read our feature article.