Mehdi Dibaj

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Mehdi Dibaj
Mehdi Dibaj.jpg
Mehdi Dibaj
Born1935
Iran
DiedJune/July 1994

Mehdi Dibaj (1935 – June/July 1994) was an Iranian Christian convert from Shia Islam, pastor and Christian martyr.

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 Church. After the 1979 Iranian revolution he encountered difficulties. In 1983 he was arrested and imprisoned[1] without trial in Sari 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.[2] He was finally tried by an Islamic court in Sari on 3 December 1993 and sentenced to death on charges of apostasy.[citation needed]

On 18 January 1994, Bernard Levin reprinted Dibaj's courtroom speech in place of his usual column in The Times as a mark of respect.[3]

Following a worldwide outcry initiated by his friend and colleague Bishop Haik Hovsepian Mehr, Dibaj was finally freed in January 1994, although the death sentence was not lifted.[4] Just three days later Haik Hovsepian Mehr was murdered.[5][6] The Times article and the murder of Hovsepian Mehr was alluded to in a debate in the House of Lords on Iran, 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?'[6]

Dibaj was abducted on Friday, 24 June 1994.[2] His body was found in a west Tehran park on Tuesday, 5 July 1994.[4]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "In memory of Reverent Mehdi Dibaj, killed by Iran's regime | People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK)". mojahedin.org (in Persian). Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Obituary: Mehdi Dibaj". Independent. 7 July 1994. Archived from the original on 15 March 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  3. ^ Levin, Bernard (15 January 1994). "Written Defence of the Rev. Mehdi Dibaj Delivered to the Sari Court of Justice". The Times.
  4. ^ a b "Mehdi Dibaj profile". www.iranrights.org. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  5. ^ "Fear for the lives of church leaders" (PDF). Amnesty International Bulletin UA 262/94. 6 June 1994. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 January 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  6. ^ a b "House of Lords debate on Iran". Hansard. 3 March 1994. pp. 1183–204. Retrieved 2 January 2019.

External links[]

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