Prison sentences of 7 Baha’i citizens in Bushehr upheld by appeals court; total of 21 years imprisonment
The prison sentences of seven Baha’i citizens that were issued by the primary court of Bushehr Province in Ordibehesht of this year have been upheld in full by the appeals court.
The Campaign to Defend Political and Civil Prisoners announced on Friday, December 1, that the Bushehr Province appeals court upheld the prison sentences of Asadollah Jaberi, Farida Jaberi, Emad Jaberi, Ehteraam Sheikhi, Farrokh Lagha Faramarz, Minu Riazati, and Pouneh Nasheri, who were previously each sentenced to three years in prison, totaling 21 years of imprisonment.
According to this report, these Baha’i citizens were arrested on February 14, 2018 by security forces at their homes or workplaces. Pouneh Nasheri and Emad Jaberi were released on March 6 of the same year, and the remaining citizens were released on March 13, each on bail of 50 million tomans, temporarily and until the end of legal proceedings.
It is worth noting that precise information about the charges against these Baha’i citizens is not available.
Treatment of Baha’i citizens by the Islamic Republic has a long history, and this is not the first time that Baha’i citizens have been arrested solely because of their belief in the Baha’i faith and sentenced to judicial punishments such as lengthy prison terms.
Ardeshir Fanaiyan, Yalda Firouzian, and Behnam Eskandarian are among Baha’i citizens who, approximately six months after their arrest by Branch 1 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Semnan County under the chairmanship of Mohammad Ali Rostami, have been sentenced to a total of 20 years imprisonment.
Recently, representatives of 33 countries, including the United States, at a periodic session reviewing the status of human rights in Iran criticized the violation of the rights of ethnic and religious minorities, including Baha’i citizens in Iran, and called on the Iranian government to respect their rights.
International human rights organizations and the United States government have repeatedly condemned the harassment and imprisonment of followers of religious minorities in Iran.
Javaid Rahman, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, also stated in August of this year in his second report on human rights conditions in Iran that the Islamic Republic no longer executes Baha’is solely because of their religious beliefs, but the danger of raids, arrests, and imprisonment of them constantly exists, and since August 2005, more than 1,168 Baha’is have been arrested and faced vague and ambiguous charges.
Source: Voice of America
