Three Christians from the Church of Iran denomination have each been sentenced to five years in prison and fined four million Rials ($95) on June 26.
The three men, named as Amin Khaki, Milad Goudarzi and Alireza Nourmohammadi, are all appealing their sentences.
During the trial they were charged with “sectarian activities” under a new amendment to the Iranian penal code. The new amendment states that "any deviant education or propaganda that contradicts or interferes with the sacred Islamic shari’a, will be severely punished," according to a statement released by human rights organization Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).
According to CSW the men were not allowed to be represented by their lawyers, despite him fulfilling all necessary requirments ahead of the trial.
“The campaign of harassment against Iranian Christians is unrelenting, as these baseless charges against these three men, under a new clause in the penal code, demonstrate. CSW calls for the acquittal of these innocent men," said CSW’s Founder President Mervyn Thomas.
"We also reiterate our call for the repeal of laws and articles formulated or utilised to target minority communities. Finally, we urge the Iranian authorities to release all prisoners detained on account of their religion or belief, and to end the relentless campaign of harassment of Christians and other religious minorities through the judicial system.”