Mehdi Dibaj (1935 – June/July 1994) was an Iranian

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

convert from

Shia Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

, pastor, and Christian

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

Background

Dibaj became a Christian as a young man and joined the Presbyterian church, but years later, he joined the church of Assembly of God, the Iranian branch of the

Jama'at-e Rabbani Iranian Assemblies of God Church () is the Iranian branch of the Assemblies of God, one of the largest evangelical Pentecostal Christian churches. It has its centre in Tehran, Iran. Many (about 80%) of its adherents are converts from Islam, the ...

Church. After the 1979

Iranian revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

he encountered difficulties. In 1983 he was arrested and imprisoned without trial in

Sari A sari (also called sharee, saree or sadi)The name of the garment in various regional languages include: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * is a drape (cloth) and a women's garment in the Indian subcontinent. It consists of an un-sti ...

and systematically tortured. During his imprisonment he was held in solitary confinement in a dark cell a metre in height, width and depth for two years. He was finally tried by an Islamic court in Sari on 3 December 1993 and sentenced to death on charges of

apostasy Apostasy (; ) is the formal religious disaffiliation, disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that is contrary to one's previous re ...

. On 18 January 1994,

Bernard Levin Henry Bernard Levin (19 August 1928 – 7 August 2004) was an English journalist, author and broadcaster, described by ''The Times'' as "the most famous journalist of his day". The son of a poor Jewish family in London, he won a scholarship t ...

reprinted Dibaj's courtroom speech in place of his usual column in

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

as a mark of respect. Following a worldwide outcry initiated by his friend and colleague Bishop

Haik Hovsepian Mehr Haik Hovsepian Mehr (; January 6, 1945, Tehran – January 19, 1994) was an Iranian Armenian Protestant Minister (Christianity), minister and bishop of the ''Jama'at-e Rabbani'' church (part of the Assemblies of God church movement). After the Iran ...

, Dibaj was finally freed in January 1994, although the death sentence was not lifted. Just three days later Haik Hovsepian Mehr was

murdered Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excu ...

. The Times article and the murder of Hovsepian Mehr was alluded to in a debate in the House of Lords on

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, and Viscount Brentford cited Levin's comment, 'how insubstantial must the grasp on a religion be, if it has to be propped up by hangings and woundings and beatings and murderings?' Dibaj was abducted on Friday, 24 June 1994. His body was found in a west

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

park on Tuesday, 5 July 1994.

References

External links

A CRY FROM IRAN. A Documentary on the Religious Persecution in Iran. Haik Hovsepian's story, directed by his sons

Farsinet on Mehdi Dibaj

Iran Rights Memorial

Mehdi Dibaj's court room testimony at Sari, Iran 1993
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dibaj, Mehdi 1935 births 1990s missing person cases 1994 deaths 20th-century Protestant martyrs 20th-century Protestant religious leaders Assemblies of God pastors Assemblies of God people Converts to Pentecostalism from Shia Islam Formerly missing Iranian people Iranian former Shia Muslims Iranian murder victims Iranian Pentecostals Iranian prisoners sentenced to death Kidnapped Iranian people Missing person cases in Iran People convicted of apostosy in Iran People murdered in Iran Persecution of Christians in Iran Prisoners sentenced to death by Iran Unsolved murders in Iran

Background

See also

References

External links