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Iran: Christians Opposing Holocaust Denial Conference Arrested
Tehran, 12 Dec. (AKI) - Many members of the Evangelical Church in Iran were arrested before the beginning of a two-day conference questioning the existence of the Holocaust, which ended on Tuesday, members of the congregation say. "In the night between Sunday and Monday, right before the beginning of the conference on the Holocaust, many members of the Evangelical Church were arrested in Tehran and in the north of the country," an Iranian Protestant pastor told Adnkronos International (AKI).Those arrested are Hamid Reza Tolouinia, Firouz and Shirin Sadegh in Teheran; Behnam Irani and Shain Taghizadeh, in Karaj, 80 km north of the capital; and Peyman Salarvand, Sohrab Sayyadi, Yousef Nedarkhani, Parwiz Khalaj and Mohammad Beliad in Rasht, on the Caspian Sea. Authorities have provided no official reason for the arrests of the members of the Protestant Church, who have all converted from Islam, but fellow congregation members suspect the reason is their criticism of the government-sponsored conference which questioned the extermination of six million Jews during World War II. "We don't want to endorse the racial and anti-Christian policies of this government which in the name of Islam is committing injustices of all sorts," said the evangelical pastor who asked to remain anonymous. Iranian Catholics also slammed the conference before the Holy See issued a statement on Tuesday it said was linked to the gathering. "The Shoah (Holocaust) was a great tragedy before which we cannot remain indifferent," the Vatican said in the statement. "The memory of those horrible events must remain as a warning for people's consciences, to eliminate conflicts, respect the rights of all peoples, and exhort for peace, truth and justice." Posted by: mrp 2006-12-13 |
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