Paul KeenanIran – Four Christians have been sentenced to flogging after police discovered them consuming wine during a communion service at their house church.
Behzad Taalipasand, Mehdi Reza Omidi, Mehdi Dadkhah and Amir Hatemi will receive 80 lashes each for the offence, despite the constitutional protections supposedly offered to non-Muslim worship in Iran. Commenting on the sentences, Mervyn Thomas, Chief Executive of Christian Solidarity Worldwide, which monitors oppression of the Christian community in Iran said: : “The sentences handed down to these members of the Church of Iran effectively criminalise the Christian sacrament of sharing in the Lord’s Supper and constitute an unacceptable infringement on the right to practice faith freely and peaceably.”