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Iranian Court Acquits 11 Christians

Posted by Christian on May 22nd, 2011 in News, Religion | 0 comments

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In April, 11 Christians from the Church of Iran, part of the house church movement within the country, were arrested following communion on charges of “acting against the order of the country” for drinking communion wine. On Friday, they were acquitted.

Eleven members of one of Iran’s largest evangelical house church movements, who were charged with ‘action against the order of the country’ and drinking alcohol, have been acquitted by an Iranian court, BosNewsLife learned Friday, May 20.

The charges referred to their involvement in a house church meeting and to taking communion wine, Iranian Christians said earlier.

In a written verdict issued in mid-May, the court ruled that since the eleven claimed to be conducting a Christian ceremony, their activities were covered by Article 13 of the Iranian Constitution, which allows Zoroastrians, Jews and Christians to “perform their religious rites and ceremonies, and to act according to their own canon in matters of personal affairs and religious education”.

The judge reportedly added that as the case involved a religious ceremony, “there was no evidence to sustain the charge that they had been acting against the national security or the order of the country.”