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Religious freedom in Iran only on paper: imprisonment for accepting Christian faith

A court for the Islamic Republic of Iran sentenced a 65-year-old convert to Christianity to a three year prison term for insulting Islamic beliefs that included forwarding a message sent to his mobile phone that made fun of the mullahs who rule over Iranians.
The religious freedom organization Article 18 reported Tuesday on its website that Ismaeil Maghrebinejad, a 65-year-old convert to Christianity, has been sentenced to three years in prison for “insulting Islamic sacred beliefs.”
Maghrebinejad was sentenced under Article 513 of the Islamic Penal Code, which metes out a punishment between one and five years in prison.
Iran’s opaque justice system sentenced Maghrebinejad on January 11. He now has 20 days to appeal his prison sentence.
Article 18 said Ismaeil, who was arrested at his home in January 2019, faced two additional charges: “propaganda against the the Islamic Republic”, “membership of a group hostile to the regime”.
A judge said at a November hearing him that criminal chargeof “propaganda against the Islamic Republic” was “applicable”, because he had created a Telegram channel in which he had “promoted evangelical Christianity,” wrote Article 18.
The January hearing dealt with “insulting Islamic sacred beliefs in the cyberspace.” Article 18 said was Maghrebinejad “was found guilty because he had forwarded a message that had been sent to his phone, which poked fun at the ruling Iranian clerics.”
Mansour Borji,Research and Advocacy Director for Article 18, told the Jerusalem Post: “These excessive sentences constitute a grave violation of Iran’s constitutional and international legal obligations to guarantee freedom of religion and belief, as well as freedom of expression. We believe these loosely defined charges are used to punish individuals for adopting a religion of their choice in accordance with article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is signatory. We call for the verdict against Mr Ismaeil Maghrebinejad to be overturned, and urge the Iranian authorities to ensure due process in this and other cases involving Christians.”
Borji also said the sentence was a “disproportionate reaction to something so ordinary.”
“The other charges that Ismaeil is facing, as well as the now-quashed charge of apostasy, related to his conversion to Christianity. This may reveal the real reason why he’s been charged for something that most ordinary Iranians do on a daily basis.”Ismaeil’s defence team had pointed out that he was not even the originator of the joke,” he added.
The US has classified the Islamic Republic as a “Country of Concern” since 1999, because its regime violates religious freedom as defined by the US International Religious Freedom Act (1998).
The section on Iran read in part: “Christians, particularly evangelicals and converts from Islam, continued to experience disproportionate levels of arrests and detention, and high levels of harassment and surveillance, according to Christian NGO reports. Numerous Christians remained imprisoned at year’s end on charges related to their religious beliefs. Prison authorities reportedly continued to withhold medical care from prisoners, including some Christians, according to human rights groups.”
Article 18 wrote that Maghrebinejad “converted to Christianity nearly 40 years ago and has since been regularly harassed by Iran’s security forces, despite Iran’s own constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Iran ratified in 1975, both guaranteeing freedom of religion, including the right to hold a religion of one’s choosing and to propagate that religion.”
Maghrebinejad ‘s daughter, Mahsa, told Article18 last year that ” she believed her father was being harassed in part because she and her husband, Nathan, who now live in America, continue to pastor Christians in Iran through the Internet.”
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അഞ്ച് ലക്ഷം പേരെ യുഎസ് ഉടൻ നാടുകടത്തും; നാല് രാജ്യങ്ങളിൽനിന്നുള്ളവരുടെ നിയമപരിരക്ഷ റദ്ദാക്കുന്നു

അഞ്ച് ലക്ഷത്തിലേറെ പേരെ കൂടി നാട് കടത്താനുള്ള തീരുമാനവുമായി ട്രംപ് ഭരണകൂടം. ഒരു മാസത്തിനുള്ളിൽ നാടുകടത്താൻ സാധ്യതയുണ്ടെന്ന് ഹോംലാൻഡ് സെക്യൂരിറ്റി വകുപ്പ് അറിയിച്ചു. ക്യൂബ, ഹെയ്തി, നിക്കരാഗ്വെ, വെനസ്വേല എന്നീ രാജ്യങ്ങളിൽ നിന്നുള്ളവർക്ക് നൽകിയിരുന്ന താത്കാലിക നിയമ പരിരക്ഷ റദ്ദാക്കാനാണ് തീരുമാനം.
2022 ഒക്ടോബർ മുതൽ അമേരിക്കയിൽ എത്തിയ നാല് രാജ്യങ്ങളിൽ നിന്നുള്ള ഏകദേശം 5,32,000 പേരെ ഉത്തരവ് ബാധിക്കും. സ്പോൺസർഷിപ്പുമായി എത്തിയ ഇവർക്ക് യുഎസിൽ താമസിക്കാനും ജോലി ചെയ്യാനും രണ്ട് വർഷത്തെ പെർമിറ്റാണ് നൽകിയിരുന്നത്. ഏപ്രിൽ 24 ന് അല്ലെങ്കിൽ ഫെഡറൽ രജിസ്റ്ററിൽ നോട്ടീസ് പ്രസിദ്ധീകരിച്ചതിന് 30 ദിവസത്തിന് ശേഷം അവരുടെ നിയമപരമായ പരിരക്ഷ നഷ്ടപ്പെടുമെന്ന് ഹോംലാൻഡ് സെക്യൂരിറ്റി സെക്രട്ടറി ക്രിസ്റ്റി നോം അറിയിച്ചു.
അഞ്ച് ലക്ഷത്തിലേറെ പേരെ കൂടി നാട് കടത്താനുള്ള തീരുമാനവുമായി ട്രംപ് ഭരണകൂടം. ഒരു മാസത്തിനുള്ളിൽ നാടുകടത്താൻ സാധ്യതയുണ്ടെന്ന് ഹോംലാൻഡ് സെക്യൂരിറ്റി വകുപ്പ് അറിയിച്ചു. ക്യൂബ, ഹെയ്തി, നിക്കരാഗ്വെ, വെനസ്വേല എന്നീ രാജ്യങ്ങളിൽ നിന്നുള്ളവർക്ക് നൽകിയിരുന്ന താത്കാലിക നിയമ പരിരക്ഷ റദ്ദാക്കാനാണ് തീരുമാനം.
2022 ഒക്ടോബർ മുതൽ അമേരിക്കയിൽ എത്തിയ നാല് രാജ്യങ്ങളിൽ നിന്നുള്ള ഏകദേശം 5,32,000 പേരെ ഉത്തരവ് ബാധിക്കും. സ്പോൺസർഷിപ്പുമായി എത്തിയ ഇവർക്ക് യുഎസിൽ താമസിക്കാനും ജോലി ചെയ്യാനും രണ്ട് വർഷത്തെ പെർമിറ്റാണ് നൽകിയിരുന്നത്. ഏപ്രിൽ 24 ന് അല്ലെങ്കിൽ ഫെഡറൽ രജിസ്റ്ററിൽ നോട്ടീസ് പ്രസിദ്ധീകരിച്ചതിന് 30 ദിവസത്തിന് ശേഷം അവരുടെ നിയമപരമായ പരിരക്ഷ നഷ്ടപ്പെടുമെന്ന് ഹോംലാൻഡ് സെക്യൂരിറ്റി സെക്രട്ടറി ക്രിസ്റ്റി നോം അറിയിച്ചു.
Sources:azchavattomonline.com
The Department of Homeland Security said Friday that it will revoke legal protections for hundreds of thousands of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, setting them up for potential deportation in about a month.
The order applies to about 5,32,000 people from the four countries who came to the United States since October 2022. They arrived with financial sponsors and were given two-year permits to live and work in the US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said they will lose their legal status on April 24, or 30 days after the publication of the notice in the Federal Register.
The new policy impacts people who are already in the US and who came under the humanitarian parole program. It follows an earlier Trump administration decision to end what it called the “broad abuse” of the humanitarian parole, a long-standing legal tool presidents have used to allow people from countries where there’s war or political instability to enter and temporarily live in the US.
During his campaign President Donald Trump promised to deport millions of people who are in the US illegally, and as president he has been also ending legal pathways for immigrants to come to the US and to stay.
DHS said parolees without a lawful basis to stay in the US “must depart” before their parole termination date.
“Parole is inherently temporary, and parole alone is not an underlying basis for obtaining any immigration status,” DHS said.
Before the new order, the beneficiaries of the program could stay in the U.S. until their parole expires, although the administration had stopped processing their applications for asylum, visas and other requests that might allow them to remain longer.
The administration decision has already been challenged in federal courts.
A group of American citizens and immigrants sued the Trump administration for ending humanitarian parole and are seeking to reinstate the programs for the four nationalities.
Lawyers and activists raised their voices to denounce the government’s decision.
Friday’s action is “going to cause needless chaos and heartbreak for families and communities across the country,” said Karen Tumlin, founder and director of Justice Action Center, one of the organizations that filed the lawsuit at the end of February. She called it “reckless, cruel and counterproductive.”
The Biden administration allowed up to 30,000 people a month from the four countries to come to the United States for two years with eligibility to work. It persuaded Mexico to take back the same number from those countries because the US could deport few, if any, to their homes.
Cuba generally accepted about one deportation flight a month, while Venezuela and Nicaragua refused to take any. All three are US adversaries.
Haiti accepted many deportation flights, especially after a surge of migrants from the Caribbean country in the small border town of Del Rio, Texas, in 2021. But Haiti has been in constant turmoil, hampering US efforts.
Since late 2022, more than half a million people have come to the U.S. under the policy, also known as CHNV. It was a part of the Biden administration’s approach to encourage people to come through new legal channels while cracking down on those who crossed the border illegally.
http://theendtimeradio.com
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Christian man beaten by Iranian prison guard for requesting heart treatment: watchdog

A prison officer in Iran beat an imprisoned Christian convert for requesting medical treatment for a heart condition, according to advocacy group Article 18.
Amir-Ali Minaei, 31, serving three years and seven months for “propaganda activities against the regime through establishing a house church,” was beaten earlier this month by a prison guard identified as Mehdi Salimi, according to a press statement from Article 18.
Evin Prison authorities in Tehran have denied his repeated requests for a referral to a cardiologist for heart problems that began as a result of his initial detention, the group stated.
“After his most recent request earlier this month, Amir-Ali was beaten by a prison officer who struck him directly in the chest, thereby worsening his condition,” Article 18 stated. “Despite the beating, Amir-Ali has still not been referred to a cardiologist, and there are fears his condition may further deteriorate in the next few weeks, as the Persian New Year season begins and regular treatment options become even harder to access.”
Minaei, from Tehran, was arrested in December 2023 and detained for more than two months in Ward 209 of Evin Prison, which is under the control of the Ministry of Intelligence. Released on bail for the equivalent of about $10,000 following a series of intensive interrogations, Minaei’s heart condition was diagnosed between his release and his sentencing in March 2024, “and is understood to have been caused directly by the stress he was placed under during his initial detention and the threat of further imprisonment,” Article 18 stated.
Judge Iman Afshari of Iran’s Revolutionary Court also sentenced him to deprivation of social rights, such as membership of any organization, following his imprisonment, the group stated.
Minaei applied for conditional release in January, but Ministry of Intelligence agents blocked the request, claiming lack of “cooperation” with them, Article 18 Director Mansour Borji said.
“Detainees are often compelled to accept extrajudicial conditions as a prerequisite for receiving benefits such as temporary furlough, pardon, or early release,” Borji said. “Authorities and interrogators seek to leverage these individuals as informants, or ‘collaborators,’ requiring them to resume their daily lives while covertly gathering intelligence on other Christians and their activities.”
This coercion further infringes on detainees’ rights, and they are subjected to surveillance and undue pressure, he added.
“With the Persian New Year about to start, we are increasingly concerned about the health and wellbeing of Amir-Ali, a young man whose only ‘offense’ was to meet together with his fellow believers,” Borji said. “We call for his immediate and unconditional release, and for the Iranian authorities to stop targeting house churches.”
He called on authorities to recognize house churches as the only places of worship available to Iranian Christians who wish to worship together in their mother tongue, as churches for Iran’s Armenian and Assyrian minorities are forbidden for Persian-speakers.
“We are also outraged by the denial of medical treatment to Amir-Ali, and especially by his recent beating, and call on the Iranian authorities to ensure that the officer responsible, Mehdi Salimi, receives the proper punishment for his crimes,” Borji said.
Iran ranked ninth on Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List (WWL) report of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. The report noted that despite persecution, “the church in Iran is growing steadily.”
Islamic courts handed down six times more prison time to persecuted Christians in 2024 than the previous year, Article 18’s annual report showed. Iranian courts last year sentenced 96 Christians across the country to 263 years in prison for practicing their faith — compared with 22 Christians sentenced to a total of 43 years in 2023, according to the report.
At least 139 Christians were arrested last year on issues related to their faith. Those arrested increasingly found themselves charged under Article 500, amended in 2021 to include longer prison sentences. The Iranian judicial system also handed down nearly $800,000 in fines in an attempt to break the backs of “dissident” church groups, according to the report.
Religious freedom violations in Iran are actually much greater than is publicly known, Article 18 noted.
Iranian officials interpret any expansion of Christianity within Iran as an “analogous threat,” justifying further financial suppression, according to the report.
“Authorities have even told some Christian detainees that ‘foreign hostile states,’ including ‘Zionist groups,’ are actively supporting Christian organizations in Iran, rationalizing the severe measures taken against church finances as a matter of ‘national security,’” the report stated.
Sources:Christian Post
us news
Lawmakers Across US Push for Ten Commandments in Public Schools: ‘Why Would We Not Mention God?’

Republican legislators in more than a dozen states have introduced bills calling for the public display of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. The movement gained momentum after Louisiana became the first state in the modern era to mandate such displays.
Adam Althouse, a Texas parent, believes his 16-year-old son Dylan and other students would benefit from seeing the Ten Commandments daily in their classrooms.
“They can look at it,” Althouse said. “They could go home and ask their parents, ‘What does this mean? Should I covet the neighbor’s wife?’ It puts a thought in their mind.”
Texas is among at least 14 states where legislators aim to reintroduce Christian principles in public schools. Jonathan Saenz, an attorney with Texas Values who helped draft the Texas bill, said the display would help students understand historical and cultural foundations.
“Posting the Ten Commandments in our public school classrooms allows students to have an understanding and an appreciation for our heritage, for systems of law, and the connection of the Ten Commandments to Western civilization,” Saenz said.
Saenz added that recent election results show voters support such measures.
“We’re confident this is what voters want,” he said. “They want to make sure we preserve our values, teach about these things in our public schools, and get back to basics.”
Lawmakers pushing these bills are encouraged by recent political shifts and Supreme Court rulings that have opened the door to more religious expression in schools.
“God is mentioned in the Declaration of Independence. It’s on our money, in songs like ‘God Bless America,’ in our literature, and in our pledge to the flag,” said Montana State Sen. Keith Regier. “Why would we not mention God in our schools? The courts need to understand that by removing God, they are replacing it with nothing.”
Opponents, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, argue that these measures violate the First Amendment.
“This is clearly outrageous,” said Annie Laurie Gaylor of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. “This is not religious liberty. This is religious tyranny.”
The foundation is challenging Louisiana’s law, contending that public schools should remain secular spaces.
“It’s up to parents to indoctrinate, or not, their children, or expose them to whatever so-called holy books they want,” Gaylor said. “But not for our public schools. We’re very alarmed at all the copycat legislation.”
Texas legislators believe their bill will withstand legal scrutiny, citing a 2022 Supreme Court case that ruled in favor of a high school football coach’s right to pray on the field after games.
“The only thing I ever asked for from the very beginning was to be reinstated as a coach and to be able to pray on the 50-yard line,” said former coach Joe Kennedy, the plaintiff in the case. “The great part about it is, it just took one person to stand up and say, ‘Enough is enough.'”
Kennedy believes the ruling has energized the fight for religious freedom in schools. “People are standing up,” he said. “They’re being bold in their faith, and they’re being bold in their constitutional rights as Americans.”
While Althouse wants Texas schools to prioritize academics, he also sees value in exposing students to biblical principles that have shaped American culture.
“I think being there in the schools is important,” he said. “I think it would be good to have in the schools.”
Saenz echoed that sentiment. “If it’s good enough for the Supreme Court to display in their courtroom,” he said, “it should be good enough for a public school classroom.”
Sources:CBN News
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