A court in Semnan sentenced three Baha'i citizens to a total of 20 years in prison.
Ardeshir Fanaian, Yalda Firouzian, and Behnam Eskandarian, Baha'i citizens living in Semnan, were sentenced to a total of 20 years in prison by the Revolutionary Court.
According to the Campaign for the Defense of Political and Civil Prisoners, a revolutionary court in Semnan has sentenced these three Baha'i citizens, who have been in detention since early May of this year, to a total of 20 years in prison on charges such as "membership in illegal groups acting against the security of the country" and "acting against national security through propaganda and organizational activities."
According to the verdict, Ardeshir Fanaian has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, a one-year ban on being in Semnan, and a one-year exile to Khash County in Sistan and Baluchestan Province. Yalda Firouzian and Behnam Eskandarian have each been sentenced to five years in prison and a two-year ban on being in Semnan.
Previously, Voice of America had published news of the arrest of these citizens in May of this year. These individuals were arrested on Tuesday, May 1, when security officers went to their private homes, searched the home, and confiscated a number of personal belongings, and were taken to an unknown location.
One of these detainees, Ardeshir Fanaian, had previously spent eight months in prison in 2013 for being a "Baha'i."
In late October, Neda Sabeti, Forough Farzaneh, and Noushin Afshar, three Baha'i 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."
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently said during the unveiling of the annual Religious Freedom Report that the repression of Baha'is, Christians, and other religious and sectarian minorities in Iran continues to be a cause for serious concern.
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: "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."
International human rights organizations and the United States government have repeatedly condemned the persecution and imprisonment of followers of religious minorities in Iran.
Source: Voice of America
