Pastor Dibaj, who spent many years in prison and was sentenced to death on charge of apostasy for having converted to Christianity, was acquitted and released from prison after intense national and international advocacy on his behalf. But freedom did not mean security.

Information about the extrajudicial execution of Mr. Mehdi Dibaj, son of Hassan, was compiled from  Abdorrahman Boroumand Center (ABC) interview with Mr. Issa Dibaj, his son (January 27, 2024) and also from the Jomhuri Eslami newspapers (January 17, and February 17, 1994 and February 26 and July 7, 11 and 22 1994), Kayhan (January 18, 1994), IRNA – the Islamic Republic News Agency websites (July 17, 1993, July 2, 1994), Article 18 (June 24, 2015), Crisis Magazine (January 1, 2007), Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (August 12, 2021), and Kalameh website (January 9, 2024). Additional information on this case was obtained from the book “Razha-ye Malakut” (The Secrets of Heaven) written by Ms. Fereshte Dibaj (2007/2008), Mr. Issa Dibaj’s interview with SAT7-PARS on YouTube (June 21, 2021), 1995 Report of Amnesty International, and Mr. Dibaj's defense report in the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Sari published on the Farsinet website.

According to the available information, Mr. Dibaj was born in Esfahan and lived in Babol. He was born into a Muslim family, but at the age of 14, while visiting a relative who was being treated at the Esfahan Christian Hospital, he obtained a Bible booklet from a member of the hospital staff. He was introduced to Christianity and officially converted in the Loqa (Luke) Episcopal Church of Esfahan. "When the seriousness of his faith became clear to his family, they kicked him out of the house. So, my father went to Tehran and took refuge in the house of a Christian there." (Kalameh website)

Mr. Dibaj worked in a Christian bookstore in Tehran. After some time, he went to Beirut to study Christian theology at the suggestion of the then-leaders of the Evangelical Church. He then traveled to India and Switzerland to complete additional courses. He was also in Afghanistan for two years. There, he translated Christian books and broadcasted a Christian radio program called "Radio Neda-ye Massih" (Revelation of Christ Radio). He was the pastor of the Congregational Church.

Mr. Dibaj got married at 37 and had four children. He was fluent in English and taught for some time as an English teacher at Babol University of Technology in Mazandaran province. But after a while, he resigned from the position and spent all his time translating Christian materials. "He lived in utmost simplicity and contentment." (Razha ye Malakut). "He was a good father. He was a real believer. His faith was essential to him. [Before the arrest] we had a normal life. But he maintained his belief and insisted that we grow up in the Christian faith," said his son (ABC interview with Mr. Issa Dibaj)

According to available information, Mr. Dibaj was arrested for the first time on January 28, 1984, for insulting Ayatollah Khomeini in an unsigned letter. He was released on bail after 68 days of imprisonment. As a result of him upholding his Christian faith and refusing to deny Christ, the General Court of Babol accused him of apostasy. He was re-arrested a year later, when he, accompanied by one of his friends, returned to the relevant authority to withdraw the bond document. In 1987, The Islamic Revolutionary Court of Sary convicted him of apostasy and sentenced him to death. Mr. Dibaj did not accept a public defender and defended himself in court. Mr. Dibaj's response to the charge of apostasy in the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Sari was as follows: "I have been accused of apostasy!" They say, ‘You were a Muslim, and you became a Christian.’ No, I was a non-believer for many years. I obeyed God's call by studying and researching. I believed in Jesus Christ, Lord, so that I may have eternal life (John: 6:47).”

Regarding prison and his father’s adherence to the Christian faith, Mr. Dibaj’s son says: "Apparently, in prison, they would tell him that he only needed to pretend and say that he had become Muslim and have returned to the faith so that they could rectify the [judgment] for apostasy. Then, you can go abroad and become a priest. We will have nothing to do with you. But he continued what he knew to be correct. He insisted, and this is an important point; not everyone does this.” According to Mr. Dibaj’s son, his father was in Evin prison for several years but, on some occasions, they had no idea where Mr. Dibaj was. They did not hear from him because he was prohibited from receiving visitors.  (Issa Dibaj's interview with SAT7-PARS).

However, according to Mr. Dibaj’s son, a conscript in the Sari penitentiary gave a copy of his father's sentence to Bishop Haik Hovsepian Mehr, which resulted in the intensification of international pressure on Iran for the release of Mr. Dibaj: "In response to this death sentence, Bishop Haik Hovsepian, who at that time was the leader of Jama’at-e Rabani churches in Iran, informed international assemblies about this." Amnesty International also advocated repeatedly for the immediate and unconditional release of Mr. Dibaj, who is described as one of the examples of prisoners of conscience.

On December 21, 1993, branch seven of the Criminal Court of Sari acquitted him due to internal and external protests against his death sentence, and he was released from prison on Sunday, January 16, 1994. (Article 18- Amnesty International) The then-Public Relations Officer of the Judiciary said: "Mehdi Dibaji [Dibaj] is currently free on bail, and the court is looking into his charges." (Jomhuri Eslami Newspaper - February 17, 1994) On the same day, the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Vatican denied the news of Mehdi Dibaj's conviction, and in Tehran, the Office of the Head of the Judiciary announced: “The crimes attributed to Mehdi Dibaj are not to the extent that he should be sentenced to death and the charges are currently under investigation at the expert level." (Jomhuri Eslami Newspaper - February 26, 1994) 

Mr. Dibaj spent nine years and 27 days of his life in prison and spent two years in solitary confinement. He never denied being a Christian. During this period, to put more pressure on Mr. Dibaj, the authorities forced his wife, who was a Christian, to convert to Islam. Once his wife became a Muslim, they accused Mr. Dibaj of committing adultery with his wife and issued their divorce based on that. Mrs. Dibaj had to leave her four children without a guardian and agreed she would marry a Muslim man. For this reason, the church took responsibility for Mr. Dibaj's four children, and for a while, they were with their uncle and then with Reverend Ravanbakhsh (Mohammad Baqer Yusefi). (ABC interview with Mr. Issa Dibaj)

After his release, Mr. Dibaj, spent five months and nine days, travelling to different churches in Iranian cities to preach. He didn't spend much time with his family. According to his son: "One of his goals was to travel to neighboring countries such as Pakistan and especially Afghanistan, to serve God there." During this time, he recorded his experiences in prison and shared them with others. "That's why we didn't see him much; he was busy with church work, and he liked to record his life story on cassettes in different ways for posterity. So, he was either at the church studio or on a trip during the day." (Issa Dibaj's interview with SAT7-PARS)

Mr. Dibaj was threatened with death by state media after his release. Citing reports in the Western media, they considered his execution and murder legal. They wrote: "According to the regulations of the Islamic Republic of Iran and according to the fatwas of all jurists, such a person is an apostate, and the sentence of an apostate is execution. Why did the judiciary make a different statement about someone who converted from Islam to Christianity at age 19, did not provide the necessary explanations about the matter, and, according to the regulations, should be sentenced to death? With these abilities, we can stand against the arrogance of the West and execute God's decree with full power to humiliate America and all the false claimants of human rights. The same thing that Imam did in the case of Salman Rushdie." (Jomhuri Eslami Newspaper - February 26, 1994)

According to available information, Mr. Dibaj was last seen at a three-day conference with a small group of Christians from June 20 to 24, 1994, in the garden of Sharon Church in Zibadasht district of Karaj. On the last day of the conference, he left to return home to attend the birthday party of his daughter, Fereshteh. He never made it home. 

Background

While Christianity counts among the three Abrahamic religions officially recognized in Iran, the status carved out for Christians by the Constitution and civil and penal code is markedly inferior. In practice, religious tolerance applies only to ethnic groups who are historically Christian, i.e. Armenians and Assyrians, and not to believers or converts from Muslim backgrounds. The Iranian government has implemented policies that demarcate, monitor, and aggressively suppress Christian civic presence.

The Constitution bars Christians from becoming President, members of the Guardian Council, Army Commanders, School Principals, and from holding senior government positions. They are prohibited from running in General Parliamentary elections, and the three seats allocated to Christians in Parliament are exclusively for Armenian, Assyrian, and Chaldean representatives.

Civil and criminal statutes explicitly disadvantage Christian parties. They are entitled to less compensation in car-accident settlements and cannot inherit property from Muslims. Several offenses punishable by lashings for Muslims are for Christians punishable by death.

The activities of Christian churches and peoples have long been subject to Ministry of Culture surveillance. A law purporting to flag sellers of non-halal foods requires Christian shop owners to display signs reading “designated for religious minorities;” in practice, this signage has been enforced on all Christian businesses as a deterrent to Muslim patrons. Christians have reported denials of academic admissions and business permits on religious grounds. By the mid-90s all but two Protestant churches had closed under various government pressures, including demands to provide congregants’ names and personal information.

Since the revolution, hundreds of Christians have been detained arbitrarily. Many are sentenced to various prison terms and others are released with the specter of charges and investigations against them that are left open indefinitely. Multiple sources who have been arrested or detained reported being threatened by judicial or security officers with apostasy charges, execution, or assassination. With apostasy left unaddressed in penal code, judges defer to the Shar’ia, leaving Christian converts vulnerable to death sentences; it is also left to the personal discretion of judges whether the murder of a Christian by a Muslim even constitutes a crime. The state has historically displayed a lack of due diligence in resolving the cases of Christians who die in suspect circumstances, which further exacerbates the precarity of Christians’ social and legal status.

While the Iranian government does not publicize official data on the size of Iran’s Christian population, available sources reflect the consensus that conversions from Islam have been steadily on the rise since the revolution, and that Iranians with Christian leanings could now number as high as 1 million, or 1.5 percent of the population. The regime thus continues to invest significantly in the surveillance of Christian activities. Scores of Christians have fled Iran and taken refuge in other countries.. 

The 1990s marked a period of religious crackdowns that staggered, among others, Christian communities. Amid the overall increase in executions, corporal punishments, raids, and press restrictions, scores of Christian converts were imprisoned and tortured. In an effort to curb growing public interest in Christianity, Iran placed caps on church attendance, shut down Iran’s main Persian-language bible publisher, prohibited sermons in Persian, confiscated all Christian books, closed all Christian bookstores, and dissolved the Iranian Bible society. As of 2023, of 43 Protestant churches in Iran, 16 remain of which 10 are in Tehran. Only four are permitted to preach in Persian.

Background of Extrajudicial Killings by the Islamic Republic of Iran

The Islamic Republic of Iran has a long history of politically motivated violence in Iran and around the world. Since the 1979 Revolution, Islamic Republic operatives inside and outside the country have engaged in kidnapping, disappearing, and killing a large number of individuals whose activities they deemed undesirable. The actual number of the victims of extrajudicial killings inside Iran is not clear; however, these murders began in February 1979 and have continued since then, both inside and outside Iran. The Abdorrahman Boroumand Center has so far identified over 540 killings outside Iran attributed to the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Dissidents have been assassinated by the agents of the Islamic Republic outside Iran in countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, India, and Pakistan in Asia; Dubai, Iraq, and Turkey in the Middle East; Cyprus, France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Great Britain in Europe; and the United States across the Atlantic Ocean. In most cases, there has not been much published, and local authorities have not issued arrest warrants. But documentation, evidence, and traces obtained through investigations conducted by local police and judicial authorities confirm the theory of state committed crimes. In some instances, these investigations have resulted in the expulsion or arrest of Iranian diplomats. In a few cases outside Iran, the perpetrators of these murders have been arrested and put on trial. The evidence presented revealed the defendants’ connection to Iran’s government institutions, and an arrest warrant has been issued for Iran’s Minister of Information.

The manner in which these killings were organized and implemented in Iran and abroad is indicative of a single pattern which, according to Roland Chatelin, the Swiss prosecutor, contains common parameters and detailed planning. It can be ascertained from the similarities between these murders in different countries that the Iranian government is the principal entity that ordered the implementation of these crimes. Iranian authorities have not officially accepted responsibility for these murders and have even attributed their commission to internal strife in opposition groups. Nevertheless, since the very inception of the Islamic Republic regime, the Islamic Republic officials have justified these crimes from an ideological and legal standpoint. In the spring of 1979, Sadeq Khalkhali, the first Chief Shari’a Judge of the Islamic Revolutionary Courts, officially announced the regime’s decision to implement extrajudicial executions and justified the decision: “ … These people have been sentenced to death; from the Iranian people’s perspective, if someone wants to assassinate these individuals abroad, in any country, no government has any right to bring the perpetrator to trial as a terrorist, because such a person is the implementing agent of the sentence issued by the Islamic Revolutionary Court. Therefore, they are Mahduroddam and their sentence is death regardless of where they are.” More than 10 years after these proclamations, in a speech about the security forces’ success, Ali Fallahian, the regime’s Minister of Information, stated the following regarding the elimination of members of the opposition: “ … We have had success in inflicting damage to many of these little groups outside the country and on our borders.”

At the same time, various political, judicial, and security officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran have, at different times and occasions, confirmed the existence of a long term government policy for these extrajudicial killings and in some cases their implementation.

Read more about the background of extrajudicial killings in the Islamic Republic of Iran by clicking on the left hand highlight with the same title.

Short background on the “Chain Murders”

“Chain Murders” refers to a set of disappearances and extrajudicial killings of writers and political dissidents which occurred mainly in the 1990’s. In January 1999, the Ministry of Intelligence published an announcement in which it squarely put the blame for four such killings (those of Dariush and Parvaneh Foruhar, Mohammad Mokhtari, and Mohammad Ja’far Puyandeh) on rogue elements within the Ministry, without providing any explanation as to the causes and manner of killing of tens of [other] dissidents and writers.

A number of the Ministry of Intelligence agents were arrested and charged with the above-mentioned four persons’ murders. On June 20, 1999, it was announced that the primary suspect, Sa’id Emami, had committed suicide in prison. According to the victims’ lawyers, numerous pages of Emami’s confession had been deleted from the Chain Murders’ file. Based on independent research and the confessions of [a number of] the accused, however, the elimination of dissidents - the magnitude of which is still not clear- was the official policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Ministry of Information for over a decade.

Mr. Sa’idi Sirjani’s name has repeatedly been mentioned as a victim of “Chain Murders” in the print media, by human rights organizations, and by writers. Amnesty International’s November 1994 report and Human Rights watch’s 1994 report make mention of his death under suspicious circumstances. In his report of January 16, 1995, the United Nations Special Rapporteur, Reynaldo Galindo Pohl, also makes reference to Mr. Sa’idi Sirjani’s suspicious murder, quoting from an interview with [author] Hushang Golshiri.

Newspapers such as Asr-e Azadegan (December 16, 1999), Sobhe Emrooz (August 15 and September 19, 1999), and Arzesh (December 4, 1999), considered Mr. Sai’di Sirjani as one of the tens of victims of Chain Murders. Also, in January 2000, the United Nations Special Rapporteur called on the Islamic Republic authorities to investigate the murders of more than fifty political dissidents: The authorities were asked to consider “a much wider scenario … one that involved 50 or more unexplained deaths in recent years. Included were the 1994 deaths of three Christian ministers which had been officially attributed to the Mujahedin, the deaths of Sunni community leaders, and the deaths of dissidents in bombings in Europe.” (UN Special Representative Report, January 18, 2000)

Mr. Mehdi Dibaj’s Extrajudicial execution

On July 6, 1994, IRNA – the Islamic Republic News Agency published the news of Mr. Dibaj's body having been found: "During the police investigation to identify the killer or killers of Reverend Tatabous Mikaelian [Tatavus Mika’ilian], who went missing last week, yesterday [July 5, 1994] the body of Mehdi Dibaj, a Protestant priest, was discovered.” Mr. Dibaj's body was found in Sorkheh Hesar forest park, west of Tehran. He was stabbed several times in the chest. However, according to the forensic pathologist, Mr. Dibaj's body was delivered to the medical examiner on July 3rd, and the results of the examinations showed that he had been stabbed, and died a week to 10 days earlier. (Jomhuri Eslami Newspaper – July 11, 1994)

The killers buried Mr. Dibaj in the park, and his body was there for several days. His two sons identified his body, and one of the church officials said: "Yes, they buried him. They said that dissenters had buried him. I think a week or ten days had passed before they showed us the body; nothing special was left of the body, his teeth, and so on. It was a corpse that had been rotting under the soil for about ten days. They had stabbed him in the heart." (ABC interview with Issa Dibaj)

Mr. Dibaj's body was handed over to his family on July 11, 1994, in the presence of the prosecutor's representative. Mr. Dibaj was buried in the Ashurian (Assyrian) cemetery in Eslamshahr.

Officials' Reaction

Before discovering Mr. Dibaj's body and after the family informed them that he was missing, the Sheriff’s Police sent a Conscript along with Mr. Dibaj's son to go to different offices to inquire.

After a few days, agents from the Intelligence Organization called Mr. Dibaj's family and went to their house. They told the family that after finding Mr. Mika’ilian’s body, they found a map that led them to the place where Mr. Dibaj was buried: "Several intelligence brothers came to our house and said that this is how your father's body was buried, and it was the dissenters (Mojahedin Khalq Organization of Iran) who killed him...or something like that. Come to the medical examiner on such a date and identify him." (ABC interview with Issa Dibaj) At the medical examiners’, the agents filmed them. Mr. Dibaj's body was not handed over to the family on that day: "They would not release the body for a while."

Iranian authorities announced on Thursday, July 7, 1994, that the Mojahedin Khalq Organization of Iran was responsible for the murder of these two religious leaders (Mr. Mika’ilian and Mr. Dibaj). They also tried to force church leaders to announce that members of the Mojahedin Organization had killed these people, and because of this pressure, some Christian leaders were forced to flee Iran. In 1996, Amnesty International reported: "The authorities pressured other church leaders to publicly announce on television and radio that an organization opposed to the regime was responsible for the killings. A few who refused to accept this secretly left the country for fear of retaliatory measures.” (Amnesty International)

Later, in the list published by Naser Zarafshan (attorney) on the topic of chain murders in the Islamic Republic on March 11, 2000, the name of Mr. Dibaj is seen among the list of 34 cases of murders carried out by the Ministry of Intelligence, during Sa’id Emami’s (then-Deputy Minister of Security at the Ministry of Information) era. In this regard, Zarafshan says, this list included those who had minimal documentation that proved security agents killed them. The government's concern about the people's tendency towards Christianity can be seen in Sa’id Emami’s statement. In the 11th national gathering of Friday Imams in the fall of 1995, Emami indicated that Christianity was an example of "cultural invasion" and the conversion of people to Christianity to be against Islam. During the same gathering, he emphasized: "The Pope told one of the Iranian priests that you can support Christianity by standing up to the Islamic front." The same priest who was killed by the dissenters (Pastor Mika’ilian) had converted 300 Shi’a Muslims to Christianity within two and a half years. You see what a faction has opened up in the face of Christianity. (Radio Zamaneh)

The Reaction of the Mojahedin Khalq Organization of Iran

Based on available information, the leadership of the Mojahedin Khalq Organization of Iran denied the accusation of Mr. Dibaj's murder. It held the government of the Islamic Republic responsible for these murders.

Family’s Reaction

According to available information, after Mr. Dibaj's disappearance, his family did not inform the police because they thought he may have gone on a trip. The church friends also told them to hold off [making the police report]. But after a few days, they went to the local police station and reported that they had no news of him: "We always considered the possibility that they may have killed or detained him. It was very likely that he had been arrested. Now, we had to figure out which prison he is being detained in. That is why we didn't go quickly, there was also the thought that he could have been killed." But after a few days of running around Tehran, the police told them that this disappearance was beyond their jurisdiction and that the Intelligence Organization was investigating this case. (ABC interview with Issa Dibaj)

After the Islamic Republic announced in its official media outlets that they had arrested three girls, members of the Mojahedin Khalq organization, as murderers, Mr. Dibaj's family did not appear in court and stated that they forgave them.

Impacts on the family

According to the available information, Mr. Dibaj's family spun out after his arrest and long imprisonment, pressuring and threatening his wife, which ultimately forced the mother to separate from her children. The church cared for his four children, who lived with their uncle for a while. Issa, Mr. Dibaj’s eldest son, says: "When dad was in prison, and mom was going to go somewhere else, the church was left to figure out what to do with the four of us. Once, my uncle, who, well, after years of no contact, miraculously appeared like an angel; thanks to the school administrator, we went to live with his family for several years."

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* Pentecostal church: Referred to as the Ashurian (Assyrian) Church of Iran.

** Government rules for Jama'at-e Rabbani churches: No meetings should be held in Persian; only Armenians can participate in discussions; only those with church membership cards can participate; the list of members' names must be made available to government officials. Should be appointed. The government must approve the admission of new members.

*** Hassan Dehqani Tafti is the first Iranian Anglican bishop. He was a Muslim who converted to Christianity. He was responsible for the episcopate of the episcopal circle in Iran. In October 1978, he and his British wife were attacked by five unknown men in the bedroom of their house in Isfahan, but none of the bullets hit him. Tafti's wife was injured in that incident. A week after that incident, he left Iran to attend the meeting of the archbishops of the Anglican Church in Cyprus, and when he wanted to return, members of the episcopal committee stopped him. In May of the same year, his secretary was shot and seriously injured. On May 6, 1980, his son Bahram was returning from teaching at Damavand College when several individuals stopped his car, took him to one of the quiet streets near Tehran prison, and shot him dead in his car.