Mehdi Dibaj
Mehdi Dibaj (1935 – June/July 1994) was an Iranian Christian convert from Shia Islam, pastor and Christian martyr.
Dibaj became a Christian as a young man and joined the Jama'at-e Rabbani Church, the Iranian branch of the Assemblies of God. After the 1979 Iranian revolution he encountered difficulties. In 1983 he was arrested and imprisoned without trial in Sari and systematically tortured. He was finally tried by an Islamic court in Sari on December 3, 1993 and sentenced to death on charges of apostasy.
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.[1] Just three days later Haik Hovsepian Mehr was abducted and murdered.
Dibaj was abducted on Friday, June 24, 1994. His body was found in a west Tehran park on Tuesday, July 5, 1994.[1]
References
- 1 2 "Mehdi Dibaj profile". www.iranrights.org. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
External links
- Farsinet on Mehdi Dibaj
- A CRY FROM IRAN. A Documentary on the Religious Persecution in Iran. Haik Hovsepian's story, directed by his sons
- Iran Rights Memorial