An interview with Ali Golchin (Part 3)

Photo from FCNN

Ali Golchin, an Iranian Christian who was imprisoned in 2010 for evangelism and action against national security, recently shared about his experiences with Mohabat News.

We recently shared parts 1 and 2 of his interview. Today, we invite you to read the final part of his talk with Mohabat.

Please remember Ali in your prayers. Pray too for other believers who are currently imprisoned in Iran because of their faith in Jesus Christ.

While you were still in jail, many news services and media published news about your arrest and detention. From your experience, do these things help the situation of the person in detention? Or do they worsen it? What was your experience in this regard?

When I was in custody, occasionally it prompted some changes in the interrogators’ behavior, giving permission for me to visit my family and call them on the phone more frequently.

When I was released, I noticed that while I was in prison, my situation had been reported in the media and internet campaigns had been launched. Also some interviews had been conducted concerning my situation. Then I realized that it can be a great help to a prisoner’s situation when news about him/her is spread and Human Rights organizations are informed in this respect. I would like to speak about a memory from the time while I was still in jail and totally unaware of what was going on outside.

One day the interrogator who used to question me in Evin prison, came to me before an interrogation session and said in a friendly voice, “What is this they are doing? We have arrested and brought you here, and outside they are reporting this news.  Websites write about this, launch campaigns, conduct interviews and then pressure us through Human Rights channels and international community to release you … !”

So, as they said themselves, it shows that these kinds of reports work as leverage in favor of the prisoner and at least cause them to treat him/her more favorably. Another positive impact is that it brings awareness to the world about the situation of the Church and Christians in Iran. And people of the world would know about what is happening in Iran. They would know that a Christian prisoner is subjected to the harshest situations without really doing anything wrong or committing any crime and can potentially face the most severe sentences.

Reporting on the situation of such people can be a great help for their release or at least it can reduce the pressure on them and even soften the court’s ruling.