A strong gesture for the Christian minority in Iran. The head of the Iranian judicial service, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, announced Sunday, December 26 that Christian prisoners held in the country would be entitled to ten days of freedom to enjoy family celebrations.
Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei took this strong decision in order to “mark the New Year 2022 and the birthday of Jesus Christ”, according to the official website of the Iranian judiciary, relayed by the International Courier.
A surprising announcement since only 1% of the 83 million inhabitants of the country are of Christian faith, while the majority of believers in Iran are Shiite Muslims. Most of the nation’s Christians are Armenians who celebrate Christmas on January 6, Epiphany Day.
For the moment, the judicial authorities have not yet communicated the exact dates of this leave, nor the number of prisoners affected by this measure. However, information has leaked out: detainees convicted of endangering national security, organized crime, kidnappings and armed robberies will not benefit from this flexibility.
Another remarkable novelty in Iran: President Ebrahim Raïssi went to Tehran on Christmas Eve to visit the family of a Christian “martyr” who died in the Iran-Iraq war between 1980 and 1988, according to the official Irna news agency.
