Trial of 12 Christians in Rasht Complete

The trial for the 12 Christians in Rasht, including Matthias Haghnejad, is complete and a verdict will be delivered at some point in the future. Fog prevented their attorney from flying up from Tehran for the trial, but it went on without him. Their defense was that they were performing religious rituals that were protected by law. The court also mentioned apostasy, but that they were not being charged with that at the time. They have done this previously to create fear of the death sentence. By law the verdict is to be delivered within two weeks, but as we have witnessed in the case of Youcef Nadarkhani we cannot know exactly when. God helped them and they were given the opportunity to speak in court. Pray for them as they wait for the verdict.

Based upon the fact that these Christians were tried for the very same crimes in Bandar Anzali it seems clear that the security service wants to find a court that will convict them of these crimes. The Iranian regime is purposefully seeking to either imprison Christians or scare them so that life inside the country becomes unlivable and they seek to flee. Pray that God gives courage and peace to these believers.