Iranian pastor, Hamid Pourmand, gets reprieve of life, cleared of apostasy charges

Teheran, Iran – Hamid Pourmand, an Assembly of God pastor in an Iranian church and a former army colonel, who was arrested last September and was jailed since then and subjected to severe torture, has finally been cleared of charges of apostasy and proselytizing, Christian Today has confirmed.

According to Middle East Concern (MEC) and Compass Direct, an Islamic judge in the Gulf Coast town of Bandar–I Bushehr acquitted Pastor Pourmand on Saturday, May 28. Had he been found guilty, Pourmand would have been awarded the death sentence.

The case of Pastor Pourmand received so much global attention of late, that the judge who tried the pastor, said, "I don't know who you are, but the rest of the world does,” according to Compass Direct.

Pastor Pourmand became a Christian prior to the 1979 Iranian revolution, after which conversion became illegal. He was arrested along with 85 other church leaders at the annual meeting of the Assemblies of God (AOG) Church in Iran on 9 September 2004. He was the only person not to be released shortly after being detained.

Pastor Pourmand was initially charged with hiding his conversion from his army superiors and was found guilty of this charge and sentenced to three years imprisonment despite presenting documents that proved his superiors were aware of his religion prior to promoting him to the officer ranks. Iranian law states that military officers must be Muslim. Worse was to follow as not only Pastor Pourmand was dishonorably discharged from the army, losing his income and pension, but also the local authorities evicted his family from their army housing.

In early April, Pastor Pourmand was formally charged with apostasy and proselytizing Muslims. He was brought before a Shari’ah court in Teheran on several occasions between 13 April and 23 April and was cajoled to renounce his faith. However, when he refused, the local authorities threatened him with dire consequences and, on May 16, proceedings against him were transferred to his hometown of Bandar–I Bushehr. However, at a time when people feared that death was imminent for the pastor, it appears that international pressure from Human Rights watchdogs and Christian groups finally secured his acquittal.

Proceedings against the pastor with regard to his alleged deceiving the Iranian armed forces about his conversion have still not been withdrawn and the pastor continues to languish in prison.

In the last 16 years, three other Iranian church leaders have been charged with apostasy in Iran, a country which US has condemned as severely lacking religious freedom. In 1989, Pastor Hussein Soodman was convicted and hanged to death. In 1992, Deacon Maher was about to be hanged, but his life was spared when he renounced his faith at the last moment. In 1993, Pastor Mehdi Dibaj was condemned to death but was released, following international pressure. However, soon thereafter, he was found brutally murdered with his murderers still at large to this day.