CSW has received a letter from Hakob Gochumiyan, an Armenian prisoner of conscience who is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence in Iran, following a second rejection of his application for a retrial.

Mr Gochumiyan was arrested on 15 August 2023 along with his wife Elisa during a family visit to Iran following a raid by plainclothes officers from the Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS) on the home of a family friend in Pardis where they and their two young children were invited for dinner. The MOIS officers also confiscated personal belongings, including some Christian literature. They were both placed in solitary confinement in Evin Prison in Tehran, and were subjected to lengthy consecutive interrogation sessions. Neither was informed of the reason they were being detained.

While his wife was released on bail on 19 October 2023 and managed to return to Armenia where she was reunited with their children, who had returned earlier accompanied by a relative, Mr Gochumiyan remained in detention, and was eventually charged with  ‘engaging in deviant proselytising activity that contradicts the sacred law of Islam through membership and leadership of a network of evangelical Christianity.’  

On 19 October 2024 the infamous judge presiding over Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, Iman Afshari, sentenced Mr Gochumiyan to 10 years’ imprisonment and fined him 50,000,000 tomans (approximately USD 850).

Mr Gochumiyan’s appeal against his sentence was denied by an appeal court, and so far, two appeals for a retrial have been rejected by the Supreme Court, with the latest denial reportedly occurring within the last few weeks.

In the letter received by CSW, Mr Gochumiyan, who was initially held in solitary confinement following his arrest and who does not speak Persian fluently, detailed the mistreatment he has endured since being arrested: ‘The investigation by the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence was carried out with gross violations of human rights - the absence of a lawyer or translator and threats to the lives of my family members.’

He added that he had been ‘subjected to psychological violence’ and that his interrogators had confessed to the 1994 murder of Iranian-Armenian church leader Haik Hovsapian Mehr ‘without a drop of shame, describing it in detail, and [they] said that they would kill me in the same way.’ Bishop Hovsapian Mehr was forcibly disappeared on 19 January 1994. Pictures of his body with multiple stab wounds to the chest were sent to his family 11 days later.

In the letter Mr Gochumiyan stresses that the allegations made against him were ‘fabricated, completely unfair and false,’ and arose in part from a false narrative provided by an unnamed Christian: ‘The indictment, fabricated by the prosecutor, contains fictitious statements, such as “leading crusades to destroy the Islamic Republic”, and “instilling in Baluchi children the dream of having bread, water, toys and education”.’

Moreover, Mr Gochumiyan states that following his arrest he was denied unhindered access to his legal representative, that the meetings which were permitted were recorded without authorisation, and that he was also denied access to staff of the Armenian Embassy.

CSW's Founder President Meryvn Thomas said: ‘CSW is deeply concerned at the imprisonment of Hakob Gochumiyan on excessive and completely unfounded charges, and following violations of rights guaranteed in Iran’s constitution and in international human rights legislation to which it is party. We are particularly appalled at the severe psychological cruelty inflicted on him by MOIS officers who threatened to reenact their brutal murder of Bishop Hovsapian Mehr. We are also dismayed by the unacceptable infringements on his right to access legal counsel, and by successive rejections of his appeals despite the absence of due process in the legal proceedings that resulted in his conviction. We call for Mr Gochumiyan’s immediate and unconditional release, and urge the international community, and particularly the government of Armenia to hold the Iranian authorities to account, not only for this miscarriage of justice, but also for their continuing mistreatment of countless other prisoners of conscience.’

Notes to Editors:

1. Article 32 of the Iranian Constitution stipulates that individuals must be informed immediately of the reasons for their arrest, while Article 39 prohibits any violation of the honour and dignity of a person who has been arrested or detained.
2. Iran is party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which it signed without reservations, and which is binding on signatories. As well as guaranteeing the right to freedom of religion or belief in Article 18, the ICCPR also stipulates the rights to equality before the law, and ‘to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal’ in Article 14.
3. Judge Iman Afshari has presided over Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court since 2017. He is notorious for conducting trials that lack due process and impartiality, and for the regular imposition of draconian sentences, including the death penalty, excessive prison terms, exile, and lashes on women’s rights campaigners, religious minorities, students, journalist, human rights defenders and political activists. Both the UK and Canada have imposed sanctions on him.