Court in Semnan Sentences Three Bahai Citizens to Total of 20 Years Prison
Ardeshir Fanaiyan, Yalda Firouzian, and Behnam Eskandirian, Bahai citizens residing in Semnan, have been sentenced to a total of 20 years in prison by a Revolutionary Court.
According to the Campaign to Defend Political and Civil Prisoners, a Revolutionary Court in Semnan has sentenced these three Bahai citizens, who have been in detention since early Ordibehesht of the current year, to a combined 20 years imprisonment on charges including “membership in illegal groups acting against national security” and “action against national security through propagandistic and organizational activities.”
Based on the issued verdict, Ardeshir Fanaiyan has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, one year of banishment from Semnan, and one year of exile to Khash city in Sistan and Baluchestan Province. Yalda Firouzian and Behnam Eskandirian have each been sentenced to 5 years imprisonment and two years of prohibition from residing in Semnan.
Previously, Voice of America had reported the arrest of these citizens in Ordibehesht of the current year. These individuals were arrested on Tuesday, 10 Ordibehesht, when security officials visited their private residence, and following a search and confiscation of personal items, they were transferred to an unknown location.
One of the detainees, Ardeshir Fanaiyan, had previously spent eight months in prison in 1392 due to being Bahai.
Late in Mehr month, Neda Sabeti, Forough Farzaneh, and Noshin Afshar, three Bahai citizens from Abadan and Ahvaz, were each sentenced to one year in prison by the Abadan Revolutionary Court on charges of “propaganda against the system.”
Mike Pompeo, U.S. Secretary of State, stated some time ago during the unveiling of an annual religious freedom report that the persecution of Bahais, Christians, and other religious and sectarian minorities in Iran remains a serious concern.
Javaid Rehman, United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, also stated in his second report on human rights conditions in Iran in Mordad of the current year: The Islamic Republic no longer executes Bahais solely for their religious beliefs, but the danger of raids, arrests, and imprisonment of Bahais continues to exist, and since August 2005, more than 1,168 Bahais have been arrested and faced vague and ambiguous charges.
International human rights organizations and the United States have repeatedly condemned the harassment and imprisonment of followers of religious minorities in Iran.
Source: Voice of America
