Iran: 'Yesterday a Tehran military court sentenced Iranian Christian pastor Hamid Pourmand to jail for three years, ordering his immediate transfer to a group prison cell in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison. The former army colonel was found guilty of deceiving the armed forces by not declaring that he was a convert from Islam to Christianity. It is illegal for a non-Muslim to serve as a military officer in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Pourmand, a Christian for nearly 25 years, produced several original documents in which his military superiors had acknowledged years ago that he was a Christian. “But the court didn’t accept them, an Iranian source said. “They said these were false documents.” The verdict represented the maximum penalty for Pourmand’s alleged offense. As a consequence, the lay pastor of the Assemblies of God faces automatic discharge from the army and forfeits his entire income, pension and housing for his family.' (Compass Direct)