An Iranian Christian pastor has been released early from one of Tehran's toughest prisons after spending five years locked up, allegedly due to his faith.
Farshid Fathi, released Monday from Rajaei-Shahr prison, was serving a six-year sentence for taking "actions against the national security, being in contact with foreign organizations, and religious propaganda," according to World Watch Monitor.
Just six months ago, the 35-year-old father of two had his sentence extended for an extra year and was given 74 lashes for allegedly possessing two liters of alcohol in his cell.
He was scheduled to be released in December 2017, but prison officials told him in July that he would be set free this December instead.
"We are overjoyed and celebrating!" Elam church's Executive Director David Yeghnazar said in a statement, according to The Blaze. "Farshid Fathi has been released today after five years in prison for his faith."
He continued: "We are deeply grateful for your faithful prayers for Farshid while he has been in prison. We would like to request that you continue praying for Farshid today and in the coming weeks. Please pray especially for protection, his family and his adjustment to life outside prison."
Fathi was arrested on Dec. 26, 2010, along with around 60 other Christians from house churches in Tehran. Fathi was then held for 15 months before being tried in January 2012, according to the American Center for Law and Justice.
The center claims that Fathi was arrested solely for his Christian faith and was also charged with unlawfully distributing bibles printed in Farsi.
In 2011, the governor of Tehran, Morteza Tamadon, reportedly described the detained Christians as "extremists" who "penetrated the body of Islam like corrupt and deviant people," and accused them of attempting to establish "an extreme form of Christianity like the Taliban and Wahhabis in Islam."
