Persecution of Religious Minorities in Iran; Citizen Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison for Being Bahai and Sending Opinion to Voice of America

Farid Ziraki Moghaddam, a Bahai citizen residing in Birjand, has been sentenced to a total of seven years in prison in two separate cases, and it is said that one of the charges against him was sending his opinion regarding religious minorities in the form of an audio file to Voice of America.

An informed source said on Monday, September 3, in a conversation with Voice of America that this Bahai citizen from Birjand, who was arrested by security forces in late August of last year, was sentenced by the first branch of the Birjand Revolutionary Court, headed by Judge Jafar Islamkhah, to 6 years in prison on charges such as “membership in Bahai organizations” and “propaganda against the system,” and by branch 102 of the criminal court of Birjand to one year in prison on charges of “insulting sacred values.”

This informed source, who requested anonymity for security reasons, told Voice of America that the prison sentences issued for Mr. Ziraki Moghaddam were handed down even though he was denied access to a lawyer during the legal proceedings, and after obtaining a lawyer, the judge in the Birjand Revolutionary Court did not allow the defense lawyer to defend his client. It should be noted that he also had no access to a lawyer during the proceedings in the Birjand criminal court.

According to this informed source, the sentences issued against Mr. Ziraki Moghaddam were due to a report from the Information Office of South Khorasan Province, which deemed him worthy of punishment due to his membership in several channels of Bahai followers and his human rights activities.

Also, according to this informed source, one of the charges of propaganda against the system against Farid Ziraki Moghaddam was sending his opinion in the form of an audio file to the Voice of America online program regarding religious minorities. His interrogator at the time of arrest considered the expression of opinion and sending it to Voice of America as an example of contact “with individuals outside the country and hostile media.”

This claim is made while Voice of America, as a media outlet, requests its audiences in Iran to send their views on various economic, political, and social topics to Voice of America for broadcasting so that they can be disseminated through this media to others.

Based on available information, Farid Ziraki Moghaddam was arrested by security forces in the city of Birjand on August 12, 2019, and after 34 days of detention, he was temporarily released from Birjand public detention upon posting a bail of 150 million tomans until the completion of legal proceedings.

This informed person also told Voice of America: “Farid Ziraki Moghaddam, who is now 25 years old, has been sentenced to prison while the members of his family are unable to work due to physical problems they have, and all family affairs are his responsibility, and if this Bahai citizen is transferred to prison to serve his sentence, the backbone of his family will be paralyzed.”

This is not the first time a citizen has faced prison sentences due to contact with Voice of America. Previously, one of the charges against Amir Salar Davoudi, a human rights lawyer who was sentenced to 30 years in prison, was “cooperation with hostile states through an interview with the Voice of America television network.”

Sam Brownback, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, said on April 15 at a special press conference in Washington: “Bahais in Iran, and unfortunately in some other countries in the world, are subjected to severe persecution and harassment.”

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom also expressed concern in early April in its annual report regarding the state of religious and faith freedoms in Iran; in a section of this report, it states that the Islamic Republic has increasingly targeted Muslim minorities, especially Sunnis and Dervishes, as well as followers of other religions and faiths, including Bahais and Christians.

Source: Voice of America