Report on Latest Situation of Maryam Loqaei and Mitra Forsati Pour, Baha’i Citizens in Evin Prison
Maryam Loqaei and Mitra Forsati Pour, Baha’i citizens, have been serving their sentences in the women’s ward of Evin Prison since early Mordad of this year. Ms. Loqaei and Ms. Forsati Pour were previously sentenced by the Revolutionary Court to 3 months and 1 year of punitive imprisonment, respectively.
According to a report by Hrana news agency, the news organ of the collection of human rights activists in Iran, Maryam Loqaei and Mitra Forsati Pour, Baha’i citizens, have been serving their sentences in the women’s ward of Evin Prison since early Mordad of this year.
Mitra Forsati Pour and Maryam Loqaei, Baha’i citizens residing in Gilavand, a suburb of Damavand county, were arrested on October 20 and 21, 2019 (Mehr 29 and 30, 1398) by Ministry of Intelligence agents and transferred to the ministry’s detention facility known as Ward 209 of Evin Prison. During their arrest, their home was searched and agents confiscated a number of their personal belongings, including laptops, mobile phones, and cameras. They were eventually released on bail after interrogation procedures were completed.
Shortly thereafter, Mitra Forsati Pour and Maryam Loqaei were sentenced by one of the Revolutionary Court branches on charges of propaganda activities against the system to 1 year and 3 months of punitive imprisonment, respectively.
It should be noted that in 2017, the grave of Mitra Forsati Pour’s grandmother in the Baha’i cemetery in Gilavand (Golestan-e Javid) was desecrated by unidentified individuals, bringing the number of desecrated graves of deceased Baha’is to two.
Gilavand is a suburb of Damavand county and is located on the Tehran-Firouzkouh road.
Baha’i citizens in Iran are deprived of freedoms related to religious beliefs. This systematic deprivation occurs despite the fact that, according to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, every person has the right to freedom of religion and to change religion, with belief, as well as freedom to express it individually or collectively, either publicly or in private.
According to unofficial sources in Iran, there are more than 300,000 Baha’is, but Iran’s Constitution only officially recognizes Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism and does not officially recognize the Baha’i faith. For this reason, the rights of Baha’is in Iran have been systematically violated over the past years.
Hrana previously, on July 6 of this year, issued a report describing the condition of the women’s ward of Evin Prison, introducing the prisoners residing in this ward, and presenting a map of different floors of this ward for further acquaintance with this place.
Source: Hrana
