Release International

Iranian officials have threatened to take a sick child into care unless her Christian parents renounce their faith and stop speaking publicly about Christ.

The threat hanging over 10-year-old Hadi, who has a serious kidney and bladder condition, is the culmination of intense persecution for her family. Both her parents, who were raised as Muslims, were detained in December – and were allowed home only after they had been subjected to two weeks of intimidation and bullying.

Hadi's mother, Hamideh Najafi, was arrested at their home in Mashhad on December 16. While Hamideh was in custody, her husband was also summoned to the interrogation room. Hamideh's interrogators threatened to beat him unless she signed a 'confession' that she was 'mentally and psychologically unfit and disturbed'. Having signed this forced confession, she was then not allowed a lawyer in court.

The court sentenced Hamideh to three months' house arrest – and ordered that Hadi be placed in foster care. However, due to the child's fragile health, the authorities have not yet implemented this custody order. But officials have warned Hamideh and her husband that Hadi will only be allowed to stay with them if they renounce their faith.

There were reportedly no formal charges against Hamideh and it was purely on the grounds of her forced confession that the court ordered that her child be put into care. However, the Farsi Christian News Network says Hamideh was accused of contacting a foreign TV network, which court officials denounced as a 'political' crime.

Compass Direct news agency reports that four Christians from house churches in the Tehran area were detained over Christmas and remain in custody. Meanwhile, a Christian man detained in Rasht last July (Prayer Alert, August 25, 2009) has now been released.

(Sources: Compass Direct, Farsi Christian News Network, Middle East Concern, VOM Canada)

• Pray for God's protection over Hamideh Najafi, her husband and their daughter.
• Pray for the immediate release of the four Tehran house church Christians.

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