On March 10, a court in the Iranian city of Shiraz handed three converts to Christianity from Islam eight-month suspended prison sentences with five years probation, according to a March 31 report from Compass Direct. As part of the sentence, Seyed Allaedin Hussein, Homayoon Shokouhi and Seyed Amir Hussein Bob-Annari were ordered to discontinue their Christian activities. The judge warned the men, who were first arrested in May 2008 (click here for more information), that he will enforce their prison sentences and try them as "apostates" if they violate terms of their probation, which include a ban on contacting one another.

For more information on the persecution of believers in Iran, click here.