Six members of a group of eight Christians from Shiraz who were sentenced to various prison terms last year had their prison sentences upheld on March 29, following an appeal.
In July 2013, the Christians were charged with ‘action against the national security’ and ‘propaganda against the order of the system’. Mohammad Roghangir was sentenced to six years in prison, Massoud Rezai to five years; Mehdi Ameruni and Bijan Farokhpour Haghighi received three year sentences, Shahin Lahouti and Suroush Saraie received two and half years, and Eskandar Rezai and Roxana Forghi each received a one-year sentence. However, charges against Roxana Forghi were dropped at the appeal and Shahin Lahouti was released from prison in December 2013.
Seven of these Christians were initially arrested in October 2012 when security forces raided a prayer meeting, while the eighth, Massoud Rezai, was detained a day later.
