(CHRISTIAN POST) A court in Iran has sentenced a 65-year-old convert to Christianity to three years in prison for “insulting Islamic sacred beliefs” even as he is yet to be tried in the court for two other charges, a religious freedom watchdog group has reported.
The U.K.-based group Article 18 reported this week that Ismaeil Maghrebinejad has 20 days to appeal his sentencing and that the court referred to Article 513 of the Islamic Penal Code, which provides for a punishment between one and five years in prison.
Maghrebinejad was convicted for forwarding a message on his phone that allegedly made fun of Iran’s ruling clerics.