Abdolreza (Matthias) Hagh

Released Dec 30, 2021

Held 1,054 days  Arrested February 2019 in Iran

Prisoner Details

Christian convert Abdolreza (Matthias) Haghnejad was arrested on Feb. 10, 2019, when agents of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard raided the house church gathering in Rasht where Pastor Matthias was ministering. The agents confiscated Bibles and mobile phones during the raid. Khalil Dehkanpour, Hossein (Elisha) Kadivar, Kamal Naamanian, Mohammed Vafada, Shahrooz Eslamdous, Babak Hosseinzadeh, Mehdi Khatibi and Behnam Akhlaghi, who are all members of the same church, were also arrested between Jan. 29 and Feb. 23, 2019. In March, seven of the nine men were released on bail to await sentencing, while Pastor Matthias and Shahrooz Eslamdous remained in custody.

At a preliminary hearing on July 24, Pastor Matthias and the eight others were accused of "acting against national security" and "promoting Zionism."

Judge Mohammed Moghiseh, who has earned the nickname the "judge of death," rejected the lawyer representing five of the defendants, and they, in turn, rejected an alternate appointed by the court. Angered, the judge transferred the pastor, Shahrooz Eslamdous, Babak Hosseinzadeh, Mehdi Khatibi and Behnam Akhlaghi straight to Evin Prison, where they remain in Ward 4.

The converts lost their appeal against the five-year prison sentences, though neither the men nor their lawyers were allowed to attend the Feb. 25, 2020 hearing.

All nine men are from the northern city of Rasht and are members of the Church of Iran. The church's pastor, Yousef Nadarkhani, is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence, and the men were helping lead the church in his absence.

Petition Officials

  • Ebrahim Raisi

    President

    Mailing Address

    President of the Islamic Republic of Iran

    Palestine Avenue, Pasteur St., Pasteur Sq.

    Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

    Other Contact Information

    Telephone: +98(21)64451

    Fax: 98 21 649 5880

    URL:

  • Saeed Iravani

    Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations

    Email Address

    Mailing Address

    622 Third Avenue

    34th Floor

    New York, NY

    10017

    Other Contact Information

    Telephone: 212-687-2020

    Fax: 212-867-7086

  • Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei

    Leader of the Islamic Republic

    Email Address

    Mailing Address

    The Office of the Supreme Leader

    Soahada Street

    Qom, Iran

    Other Contact Information

    Fax: + 98 251 7 774 2228