The Revolutionary Court of Tehran with the full awareness that Rev. Vruir Avanessian, one of the official ordained pastors of Assemblies of God Churches in Iran, is suffering from serious illnesses, sentenced him to 3 ½ years in prison.
The Revolutionary Court of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in its ongoing oppressive and intimidating anti-Christian campaign, targeting Christian leaders and pastors of Iranian Churches, sentenced Rev. Vruir Avanessian, an ordained Iranian minister of Armenian heritage, to 3 ½ years in prison.
Based on official court documents obtained by Mohabat News on December 5, 2013, including a signed order by the court judge, the court imposed a 3 ½ year sentence which was delivered to Rev. Avanessian. In these documents Rev. Avanessian was charged and found guilty of anti-government activities and promotion of ideas contrary to the sanctity of the Islamic Republic of Iran. He was also given 20 days to file a complaint in the court against the verdict and the imposed sentence.
The initial court hearing regarding the allegations against Rev. Vruir Avanessian was held on September 7, 2013 at the 26th judicial division of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran. This hearing was held behind closed doors and was closed to the public. It was decided at this hearing that until the announcement of the verdict of the court, Rev. Avanessian was to remain at home and avoid all contacts with other Christians.
The critical medical condition of Rev. Avanessian
It must be mentioned that Vruir Avanessian, a talented Christian singer and former secular artist who had been an ordained pastor of the Armenain and Farsi-speaking congregations of the Assemblies of God churches in Iran for more than 17 years, is currently suffering from serious heart disease and diabetes. He undergoes kidney dialysis three times week at Heshemi-Nejad hospital, a private clinic in Tehran, and has been retired from active ministry due his medical condition.
The court was fully aware of Rev. Avanessian's medical condition and issued a harsh sentence despite such prior knowledge of his health. It's noteworthy that on the very day that Rev. Avanessian was to be present at the court hearing, he was at the dialysis clinic and was unable to attend the proceedings.
The reaction of the court judge to the medical condition of Rev. Avanessian
The medical condition of Rev. Avanessian had deteriorated to the extent that at the end of the first court hearing when the court judge ordered Rev. Avanessian to return to the 26th judicial court on the following Sunday, he told the judge that due to a prior appointment at the hospital for dialysis he would be unable to attend the hearings. The court ordered him to produce documents and medical proof that would verify his claims of medical difficulties otherwise the court would render its verdict based on allegations presented to the court.
At a time when all Christians around the world celebrate the birth of Christ and the festivities of Christmas and the new year, such a sentence is imposed on a 61 year old man with serious medical condition. The court is fully aware of the fact that Rev. Avanessian will not be able to withstand the harsh conditions of imprisonment.
Rev. Avanessian and a group of Iranian Christians had gathered at a private residence to celebrate Christmas and the birth of Jesus Christ and were arrested on December 27, 2012 through an orchestrated and coordinated effort of various government security forces.
According to several government sources this campaign of terrorizing and arresting Armenian-Iranian Christian leaders and pastors who are actively involved in the evangelization of Farsi-speaking Iranians had been planned for quite some time. In recent months several of these Armenian leaders and pastors who have been ministering to Farsi-speaking Christians have been summoned or arrested by the security forces of the Ministry of Information and have been warned and ordered to completely stop all their ministry activities or leave the country within 90 days. The closure of the Central branch of the Assemblies of God Church in Tehran, the largest Farsi-speaking church in Iran, was perhaps the beginning of this renewed campaign.
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