The Revolutionary Court added another year to Pastor Farshid Fathi's existing six year sentence.
According to Mohabat News, sources close to the situation reported that the Revolutionary Court has increased Farshid Fathi's sentence by one year, beyond the sentence he is currently serving in prison.
The report adds, Farshid Fathi, a Christian prisoner, was taken to Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran on the morning of December 29, 2014. There, Judge Salavati issued him an additional one year sentence.
Farshid Fathi has already served four years of his original six year sentence in prison. With this additional year, he will remain in prison for three more years, rather than two.
A knowledgeable source told Mohabat News, "This new conviction is related to the controversial raid by security authorities on ward 350 of Evin prison."
Earlier this year, Revolutionary Guard agents, backed by more than a hundred prison guards, raided ward 350 of Evin prison and beat the inmates with batons, injuring more than 30 and hospitalizing four due to bleeding and broken bones.
Farshid Fathi was among those who were hospitalized. Violent beating caused Fathi several injuries including a broken leg and damaged joints. He was sent to Taleghani Hospital for treatment.
Later the prison guards revealed the reason for this attack. They said they had discovered two liters of alcoholic beverage in an adjacent ward and attributed it to Mr. Fathi.
This incident was very controversial on both international and Iranian media and Human Rights activists condemned the harsh treatment of prisoners.
Farshid Fathi was a house-church leader and a Christian convert with an Islamic background. Following a court ruling on August 19, 2014, he was transferred from ward 350 of the Evin prison to Rajaei-Shahr prison in Karaj. After his transfer to Rajaei-Shahr, the guards in Evin prison attributed the ownership of the alcoholic beverage to Mr. Fathi, which led to his summons to court and being sentenced to an additional year in prison. Human Rights activists following the case believe that this conviction is to silence those who were injured as a result of the attack.
Such convictions seem to be a means to humiliate prisoners of conscience, like Mr. Fathi, and divert attention from the arbitrary reasons they have put them in prison for. The Islamic regime of Iran has used such tactics for decades and has expanded their application in recent years.
Legal activists believe this additional one year for Mr. Fathi violates article 134 of the Islamic penal code and the extension to Mr. Fathi's sentence does not have any legal bases. Of course, this is still an initial verdict and can be appealed within 20 days.
Farshid Fathi was arrested, four years ago, on December 26, 2010, immediately after Christmas. Iranian authorities launched a broad campaign that year to crackdown on Christmas services and gatherings. A large number of Christians, mostly members of house-churches, were arrested that Christmas in Tehran and several other cities.
Later, after his arrest, Mr. Fathi was sentenced to six years in prison for being the "chief director of a foreign organization in Iran and raising funds for the organization". Like other Christian cases, the government tries to politicize Farshid's case as well, while the main reason for his conviction is his Christian faith and conversion from Islam.