Iran: Judge pressured to deliver hasty verdict
Iranian Christians request prayer for Christian converts Ayoub Poor-Rezazade, Morteza Mashhoodkari and Ahmad Sarparast, who are awaiting a verdict after being charged for “deviant propaganda” under Article 500 of the Penal Code. Ayoub, Morteza and Ahmad were initially...
Iran: Christian converts face new charges
Friends of Babak Hosseinzadeh and Behnam Akhlaghi request prayer after they were summoned by a prosecutor in Tehran to face charges of “propaganda against the state.” Babak and Behnam were among nine Christian converts from Rasht arrested early in 2019 and charged...
Algeria: Another church closure threatened
Christians in Algeria request prayer for church leaders in Ait Atteli, a village in Tizi Ouzou, the province in which most Algerian Christians live, as officials have started proceedings to close their church. The provincial governor filed a case on 2 February against...
Iran: Court to review convert’s 10-year prison sentence
Iranian Christians are thankful that Christian convert Naser Navard Goltapeh’s prison sentence will be reviewed by the Supreme Court. Naser, along with three Azerbaijani Christians, was arrested in June 2016 at a private celebration in Tehran. In May 2017, the four...
Iran: Christians released early from prison
Iranian Christians are thankful that Sasan Khosravi and Habib Heydari have been released early from Bushehr Central Prison. Habib and Sasan were arrested with others (mainly family members) in Bushehr in south Iran on 1 July 2019. In June 2020, seven of those arrested...
Iran: Released pastor rearrested on old charges
Iranian Christians request prayer for pastor Abdolreza (Matthias) Haghnejad and his family after he was rearrested to serve a sentence that had been overturned in 2014. Matthias was released from Anzali Prison near Rasht on 30 December after the Iranian Supreme Court...
Libya: Authorities act against Christmas celebrations
Christians in Libya request prayer due to continued anti-Christian actions on part of the authorities. At the end of December, the ministry of interior issued a warning to citizens "not to celebrate Christmas on New Year’s eve,“ which apparently the authorities think...
Northern Cyprus: Court hearing postponed
On the evening of 9 January, Ryan Keating was informed that his court hearing scheduled for the following day had been postponed to 16 February. He was not told the reason for the postponement. The hearing is in relation to new charges concerning a large number of...
North Cyprus: New charges brought against Ryan Keating
Christians in Cyprus request prayer for a court hearing in Famagusta on 10 January. Ryan Keating faces new charges related to the Christian material confiscated during a raid on business premises that also serve as their church meeting place. In January 2021 Police...
Iran: Christian convert granted Christmas leave
Iranian Christians are surprised that a convert has been allowed leave from prison for Christmas/New Year in accordance with an announcement from the head of the judiciary that Christian prisoners would be granted 10 days’ leave. On 26 December, the head of Iran's...
Iran: Temporary release of converts from Rasht
Iranian Christians are encouraged that, after the release of Pastor Matthias (Abdolreza Ali Haghnejad) from Anzali Prison on 30 December, eight other Christian converts from Rasht held in Evin Prison were released on 1 January pending a review of their sentences. The...
Iran: Convert from Karaj summoned to court
Prayer is requested for Christian convert Rokhsareh (Mahrokh) Ghanbari (62), from Karaj, who has been summoned to Karaj Revolutionary Court to face new charges of propaganda against the regime. In August 2019 Makrokh was mentioned by then US vice president Pence when...