Tehran: Ghazal Marzban Joorashari, christian convert, sentenced to imprisonment and flogging

Hengaw, Wednesday, January 1, 2025

Ghazal Marzban Joorashari, a Gilak Christian convert imprisoned in Tehran’s Evin Prison, has been sentenced by the Iranian judiciary to six months in prison and the inhumane punishment of 74 lashes for “failing to observe compulsory hijab.”

According to a report received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Ghazal Marzban Joorashari, a 41-year-old Christian convert from Lasht-e Nesha in Gilan Province, was recently sentenced by Branch 26 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari. She was charged with “propaganda against the state” and “appearing in public without observing hijab,” resulting in a sentence of six months in prison and 74 lashes.

Sources indicate that one-third of her prison sentence will be carried out, while the remainder will be suspended for five years, during which she will also be prohibited from using a phone.

Hengaw previously reported Marzban Joorashari began a hunger strike on Sunday, December 22, 2024, which lasted for one week.

Ghazal Marzban Joorashari was arrested by security forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Tehran on November 5, 2024. After spending two days in detention at Vozara Detention Center, she was transferred to the women’s ward of Evin Prison.

It is noteworthy that the Christian convert, currently held in Evin Prison, suffered severe rib injuries during her arrest.