Release from Prison Conditional on Participation in Local Mosque Prayers

The judiciary of the city of Sarab in East Azerbaijan has conditioned the release of a convict after he served one-third of his five-year sentence on 'being kind to parents' and attending congregational prayers at the local mosque at least four times a week. Mehdi Shamsi, the head of the Sarab judiciary, announced this news on Thursday, March 10, in an interview with the local website 'Seda-ye Sarab'. According to Shamsi, the continued imprisonment of a young man sentenced to five years in prison, whose parents were 'somewhat dissatisfied with him', was replaced with 'respect and kindness to parents and attending congregational prayers at the nearest mosque to his residence at least four times a week'. As he stated, the judiciary will inquire about this individual's attendance at prayer sessions from the mentioned mosque at the end of each month for a year. Shamsi said that this ruling was issued 'in line with the reform and rehabilitation of this young man' and thereby directed him to 'the safest place for reform, namely the mosque'. In case of disobedience 'without a valid excuse' from the court's orders, the individual will have one to two years added to his probation period for the first time. Continued disobedience to court orders or committing any intentional crimes during this period will also 'result in punishment, compensation, or execution of the remaining sentence'. The ruling issued by Shamsi for this young man states that if the convict fulfills his commitments in the coming year, a definitive release order will be issued. Previously, the head of the Sarab judiciary had also issued a suspended sentence for a convict of five years in prison on the condition of memorizing five parts of the Quran. There have been multiple reports of the release of several Quran memorizing prisoners in various cities in Iran. Meanwhile, according to some human rights activists, the release of prisoners or granting them leave in exchange for memorizing the Quran contradicts the principle of religious freedom, as it does not apply to non-religious and non-Muslim prisoners.