Iran holding two Christians on vague charges, say families
ICC Note
Iranian officials imprisoned two Christian girls in the infamous Evin prison for more than a month. The authorities have refused to release the girls though they have posted a bail demanded by the court in Iran .
04/15/2009 Iran (WashingtonTV)-The family members of two recent converts to Christianity in Iran have received conflicting excuses by authorities, who continue to hold the two women in Tehran ’s Evin Prison without charge, the Christian Post newspaper said on Tuesday.
The two women, Maryam Rostampour, 27, and Marzieh Amirizadeh, 30, were arrested on 5 March by security forces in Tehran , says Amnesty International. According to the London-based human rights group, the two women may be prisoners of conscience, detained only on account of their religious beliefs.
When Amirizadeh’s sister and a group of defense lawyers approached government officials to post the 400,000 dollar bail that a court had earlier demanded, they were told that charges against the defendant had not been determined and that the investigation was still underway, said the Christian Post.
However, after contacting the Ministry of Justice, the families of the accused were told that new information had been obtained and that the bail amount would likely be raised or completely changed, the report said.
