New Wave of Crackdown on Baháʼís in Iran
Six Baháʼí citizens who received long-term prison sentences in Shahrivar of last year by the Fourth Branch of the Court of Appeals of Bushehr Province were summoned to serve their sentences.
According to information received by the Farsi section of Voice of America, Haideh Ram, a Baháʼí citizen, was arrested on June 17 by Iranian security authorities and transferred to Adel Abad Prison in Shiraz to serve her sentence. Subsequently, five other citizens who were sentenced to prison at the same time as her were summoned to the Execution of Sentences Unit of the Prosecutor’s Office in Borazjan, Bushehr Province.
The case of these citizens named Burhan Ismaili, Derna Ismaili, Frank Sheikhi, Haideh Ram, Maryam Bashir, and Minoo Bashir, who have been accused of “propaganda against the system” due to their Baháʼí faith, has been ongoing since 2019.
Based on information in this case, three family members—Burhan Ismaili (father), Frank Sheikhi (mother), and Derna Ismaili (child)—have been sentenced to “more than 30 years in prison,” and Maryam and Minoo Bashir, who are sisters, have also been sentenced to “more than 20 years in prison.”
The charges against Burhan Ismaili as the primary defendant are cited as “action against national security through the dissemination and propaganda of Baháʼí sect ideology” and “propaganda activity against the system through the promotion of Baháʼí sect beliefs,” based on which he was sentenced to 11 years of imprisonment. The other defendants in this case have been sentenced to “10 years and 9 months imprisonment” each on charges of “complicity in propaganda against the system and action against national security.”
Previously, the Baháʼí International Community issued a statement to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva regarding “doubled pressures” on Baháʼís in Iran and expressed serious concern about “systematic harassment and persecution” of them by the Islamic Republic.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has also repeatedly expressed concern about the state of religious and faith freedoms in Iran. Nadine Maenza, chair of this commission, in an exclusive interview with the Farsi section of Voice of America, described the increase in harassment and persecution of Baháʼís and Christian believers as “concerning” and stated that conditions for all religious minorities in Iran remain inappropriate.
Source: Voice of America
