Lead story - Thursday February 17, 2005
IRAN : GOVERNMENT JAILS CHRISTIAN PASTOR FOR THREE YEARS
Military court claims convert’s documents were falsified.
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| Hamid Pourmand with his family |
The former army colonel was found guilty of deceiving the Iranian armed forces by not declaring when he acquired officer rank that he was a convert from Islam to Christianity. Under the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran, it is illegal for a non-Muslim to serve as a military officer.
Pourmand, now 47, became a Christian nearly 25 years ago.
During yesterday’s hearing, Pourmand’s lawyer produced several documents in which his client’s military superiors had acknowledged years ago that the colonel was a Christian. He had even been excused by his commander from observing the Muslim month of fasting, an exemption granted only to non-Muslims.
Nevertheless, the court ruled that Pourmand was guilty of giving false testimony and producing falsified documents. Yesterday’s verdict came during the second and final session of his military trial begun in late January.
“His military superiors knew it was illegal for them to allow a non-Muslim to serve as an officer, but they trusted him and so they allowed it. But now, they deny it,” an Iranian Christian told Compass.
“He actually had documents, original documents, to prove everything,” said an Iranian source who had spoken with eyewitnesses attending yesterday’s trial. “But the court didn’t accept them. They said these were false documents.”
Accusations of Spying
During the hearing, prosecutors also questioned Pourmand closely on accusations that he had been involved in spying against his country. “They have nothing at all to prove this,” one acquaintance of the lay pastor told Compass. “He denied it, because he really had no contact with foreigners at all. He is not that kind of person.”
In 1990, the Iranian regime used trumped-up spying charges as a pretext to arrest, try and execute a convert Christian pastor from Mashhad for alleged “treason.”
No Money, No Home
Pourmand’s jail sentence automatically discharged him from the army, cutting off not only his regular income, but also eliminating nearly 20 years of military pension. The verdict also requires his family to vacate their home in military lodgings within the next few days.
“His family has nothing now,” a source confirmed. “No salary, no house, nothing.”
The three-year verdict represented the maximum penalty for Pourmand’s alleged offense. It has not been clarified whether his jail term begins from yesterday’s verdict, or dates from his original arrest last September 9, when security police raided a church conference he was attending. He has been held under incommunicado arrest in an isolation cell for the past five months.
Will Appeal Verdict
A lawyer acting on behalf of Pourmand’s family said he will appeal the verdict to the Supreme Court. Simultaneously, he hopes to block efforts to put Pourmand on trial before a sharia court of Islamic law, where under charges of apostasy and proselytizing he could be sentenced to death.
Married with two children, Pourmand was living in Bandar-i Bushehr, a southern port city where he served as volunteer lay pastor of a small Assemblies of God congregation.