Re-indictment of 26 Baha'is in Shiraz, Six Years After Arrest
According to news received by Radio Farda, the trial of 26 Baha'i citizens who were arrested six years ago in October 2016 will be held on Wednesday, May 18.
This trial is being held despite the fact that, according to one of these citizens, the judge in the case has "declared deficiencies in this case several times over the past six years."
However, after six years, the investigator in the case of these Baha'is has once again declared the case a crime and referred the case to Branch 1 of the Shiraz Revolutionary Court.
The charges brought against these citizens are "propaganda against the regime, membership in an anti-regime group, formation of an anti-regime group, and connections with hostile states," accusations that the Islamic Republic always makes against Baha'i citizens in Iran.
The Baha'i International Community has repeatedly emphasized that the security charges leveled against Baha'i citizens in Iran are completely "baseless" and that the only reason for the arrest of Baha'is by the Islamic Republic's security agencies is their religious beliefs and activities.
According to the news received by Radio Farda, the names of these 26 Baha'i citizens, most of whom are from Shirazi, are as follows: Parisa Rouhizadegan, Ismail Rousta, Bahareh Norouzi, Behnam Azizpour, Samareh Thamri, Ramin Shirvani, Rezvan Yazdani, Soroush Eqani Saghadi, Saeed Hassani, Shadi Sadeq Aghdam, Shamim Akhlaqi, Sahba Farah Bakhsh, Sahba Moslehi, Ohdieh Enayati, Farbod Shadman, Farzad Shadman, Lala Salehi, Mozhgan Gholampour Saadi, Marjan Gholampour, Maryam Eslami Mehdiabadi, Mahyar Sefidi Miandoab, Nabil Tahdhib, Nasim Kashani Nejad, Noushin Zanhari, Varga Kaviani, and Yekta Fahandezh Saadi.
The court hearing of these citizens is being held at a time when, according to a recent statement by the Baha'i International Community at the United Nations, a judicial official in a court in Shiraz has "threatened to eradicate the Baha'i community of Shiraz."
In the most recent case of Baha'is being arrested in Iran, Saeideh Khozoui was summoned to Evin Prosecutor's Office in late April of this year to defend her charges. She was arrested and her condition remains unknown.
The Islamic Republic of Iran does not recognize the Baha'i Faith, and its followers have faced great pressure and widespread discrimination in the country for decades.
Over the past four decades, numerous reports have been published about the arrest, execution, and deprivation of Baha'is from university education and the right to a livelihood of followers of this faith in Iran.
Source: Radio Farda
