Prison sentences of 7 Baha'i citizens in Bushehr confirmed by appeals court; total 21 years in prison
The prison sentences of seven Baha'i citizens issued by the Bushehr Provincial Court of First Instance in May of this year were upheld in their entirety by the Court of Appeal.
The Campaign for the Defense of Political and Civil Prisoners announced in a report on Friday, December 2, that the Bushehr Provincial Court of Appeals has confirmed the prison sentences of Asadollah Jaberi, Farideh Jaberi, Emad Jaberi, Ehtaram Sheikhi, Farrokh Lagha Faramarzi, Minoo Riazati, and Pooneh Nasheri, who were previously sentenced to three years in prison each, for a total of 21 years in prison.
According to this report, these Baha'i citizens were arrested by security forces at their homes or workplaces on February 14, 2017. Puneh Nashari and Emad Jaberi were released on February 5 of the same year, and the rest of these citizens were released on February 12, each on a 50 million Tomans bail, pending the completion of the proceedings.
It should be noted that there is no precise information available about the charges against these Baha'i citizens.
The Islamic Republic's treatment of Baha'i citizens has a long history, and this is not the first time that Baha'i citizens have been arrested and sentenced to long prison terms simply for their belief in the Baha'i faith.
Ardeshir Fanaian, Yalda Firouzian, and Behnam Eskandarian are among the Baha'i citizens who were sentenced to a total of 20 years in prison by Branch 1 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Semnan City, headed by Mohammad Ali Rostami, about six months after their arrest.
Recently, representatives of 33 countries, including the United States, criticized the violation of the rights of ethnic and religious minorities, including Baha'i citizens, in Iran at a periodic meeting to review the human rights situation 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 persecution and imprisonment of followers of religious minorities in Iran.
Javed Rehman, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, also said in his second report on the human rights situation in Iran in August of this year that the Islamic Republic no longer executes Baha'is solely for their religious beliefs, but the risk of raids, arrests, and imprisonment is constant, and since August 2005, more than 1,168 Baha'is have been arrested and faced with vague and ambiguous charges.
Source: Voice of America
