Execution of Mitra Badrnejad's one-year prison sentence: The judge said, "Just because you are a Baha'i, in my opinion you are a criminal."
The son of Mitra Badrnezhad ( Zohdi ) , a Baha’i citizen living in Ahvaz, told the Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that his mother had been transferred to Sepidar Prison in Ahvaz after receiving a summons on September 21 to serve a year in prison. Ms. Badrnezhad is a Baha’i who was arrested and sentenced to prison on charges of “membership in a Baha’i organization” and “propaganda against the regime.” According to Roozbeh Zohdi, her son, Qazi Zare, a judge of Branch 2 of the Ahvaz Revolutionary Court, told his mother, “Just because you are a Baha’i, in my opinion you are a criminal.”
Roozbeh Zohdi, who is currently waiting for her asylum application to be processed in a city in Turkey, told the Campaign about how her mother was arrested : “ It was noon on March 3, 2017 when the officers entered our house. No one was home at the time. According to my mother, 17 or 18 male officers and a woman from the Ahvaz Intelligence Department entered the apartment. My mother thought that my cousin, who lives downstairs, was behind the door. When she opened the door, she saw officers behind the door and in the hallways, and some were standing outside the apartment. They searched the house for two or three hours and confiscated all of the family’s personal belongings. Shortly after they arrived, my brother, who is a photographer, went home and they took his camera as well. ”
According to Mr. Zohedi The officers even took away “ gold with religious symbols or writings on it, along with several mobile phones, two computers and laptops, and Baha’i religious books.” Ms. Badrnezhad’s son says that after a year and a half of the seizure of the items and even after his mother was transferred to serve her sentence, their personal belongings have still not been returned to them : “ My family has followed up many times, but neither the mobile phones, nor the computers and laptops, nor my brother’s camera, nor the gold have been returned. It is strange that even the sheet that was handed to us of the confiscated items does not mention the number of items. ”
Ms. Badrnejad's son continued : " My mother spent 50 days in solitary confinement at the Intelligence Bureau's detention center and Sepidar Prison and was eventually released on bail. In fact, we put up our house deed as my mother's bail. " Ms. Badrnejad was arrested on March 3, 2017 and released on bail on May 14, 2018, pending a verdict.
Mitra Badrnezhad, a Baha’i citizen from Ahvaz, was sentenced to five years in prison and two years of exile outside Khuzestan province on October 28, 2018, in a court session at the Second Branch of the Ahvaz Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Zare, on charges of “ membership in a Baha’i organization ” and “ propaganda against the regime. ” However, this sentence was reduced to one year in prison by the Court of Appeals, and the two years of exile were also removed from the sentence. According to her son, the Court of Appeals’ verdict was communicated to them in late July. About two months later, a summons was sent to Ms. Badrnezhad stating that she should present herself to the Ahvaz Sentence Enforcement Department. On September 21, she went to the Sentence Enforcement Department, where she was informed that she would be transferred to Sepidar Prison in Ahvaz to serve the sentence.
According to Mitra Badrnejad's son , the judge of the second branch of the Ahvaz Revolutionary Court said in a court session, explaining the reason for his mother's charges : " Just because you are a Baha'i means a crime, and in my opinion, you are a criminal. " He said about the court hearing : " My mother's lawyer defended my mother in the court hearing, saying that she did nothing wrong and that there was no evidence in her case that she was guilty. But Judge Zare replied, "In my opinion, just because you are a Baha'i means you are a criminal. This judge said that at the beginning of the revolution, judges gave you good sentences. I want to return the sentences to that time. What the honorable judge meant was that at the beginning of the revolution, Baha'is were given death sentences in large numbers. "
When asked what the evidence was for her mother's accusation, Roozbeh Zohdi said : " Unfortunately, we don't have a copy of the verdict, and they didn't even give it to her lawyer. The lawyer was only allowed to read the verdict." "As far as I know, they cited the fact that Baha'is held banquets in our house and had religious books in the house as evidence in the indictment. Baha'is hold banquets every 19 days, which is a religious custom. My mother also held these meetings in her house, and the rest of the Baha'is in the city were invited. "
He continued : " Of course, Judge Zargh argued in the court session that my mother was guilty because she was a Baha'i and that she was arrested by the Intelligence Department, so she is guilty. He also said that she has a complainant, but her complainant was never introduced or identified. "
Ms. Badrnezhad's son also said about his mother's interrogations: "My mother said that during all the days of interrogation, she was sitting on a chair facing the wall, blindfolded, and her interrogator had his back to her. My mother said that they insulted her very badly during the interrogations, and that they had once told her that they could get even with her sons. My mother was also scared. But fortunately, apart from mental pressure, there was no physical torture."
Source: Iran Human Rights Campaign
