Despite Appeal Acceptance, 8-Year Sentence for Shahrzad Nazifi, Baha'i Citizen and Women's Motocross Champion, Upheld

Despite the acceptance of the appeal and the holding of a court hearing, the court’s default judgment against Shahrzad Nazifi, a Baha’i citizen and one of the women’s motocross champions and coaches in Iran, was upheld by the issuing branch. Ms. Nazifi had previously been sentenced in absentia by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court to 8 years of penal servitude, as well as, as an additional punishment, to provide compulsory services to people with mental disabilities for 3 months, 4 hours a day, and a 2-year ban on leaving the country.

According to HRANA, the news agency of the Human Rights Activists in Iran, despite accepting the appeal and holding a court hearing, the absentia verdict issued against Shahrzad Nazifi, a Baha'i citizen and one of the women's motocross champions and coaches in Iran, was confirmed.

Based on this verdict, which was issued in absentia in mid-June by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, headed by Judge Iman Afshari, Shahrzad Nazifi was sentenced to 8 years in prison for “managing illegal groups and gangs with the aim of disrupting the country’s security.” Ms. Nazifi was also sentenced to provide compulsory services for 3 months, 4 hours a day, to care for patients with mental disabilities in coordination with the Tehran Provincial Welfare Department, and was banned from leaving the country for 2 years.

The court cited "improper motivation and an internal desire to destroy the religious system" in issuing this Baha'i citizen an additional sentence.

Ms. Nazifi was previously arrested by security forces on November 17, 2018, and transferred to the detention center of a security institution in Evin Prison. After her arrest, security forces went to her home and after searching the house for about 5 hours, they took a number of her personal belongings, including her books, cell phone, and laptop.

Previously, a source close to Ms. Nazifi’s family told HRANA: “On Sunday afternoon, November 18, 2018, security forces arrested Ms. Nazifi on her way to the motorcycle racing track. They first took her to the motorcycle racing track and put her daughter, Noura Naraqi, in the car and went to her house. After about 5 hours of searching the house and seizing a number of personal belongings, including books, a cell phone, and a laptop, they arrested Ms. Nazifi and took her away with them, showing her an arrest warrant.”

The source also added: “On November 9, 2018, security forces went to the home of Ms. Nazifi and her husband Mehrshad Naraghi and searched the place for several hours.

This citizen was finally released on December 3, 2018, after posting a bail of 700 million Tomans, temporarily until the end of the proceedings.

Shahrzad Nazifi, Ali’s daughter, was born in 1977 and is a Baha’i citizen living in Tehran. The family of Ms. Nazifi and her husband Mehrshad Naraghi are both Iranian motocross champions, and Shahrzad Nazifi and her daughter Noura Naraghi are pioneers of women’s motocross in the country. HRANA reported in May 2019 that Shahrzad Nazifi, Mehrshad Naraghi, and their children, all of whom are motocross champions and Baha’i citizens of Iran, have been denied entry to and use of motorcycle racing tracks without a court order.

Baha'i citizens in Iran are deprived of freedoms related to religious beliefs. This systematic deprivation occurs despite the fact that, according to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, everyone has the right to freedom of religion and to change their religion with conviction, as well as the freedom to manifest it, either individually or in community with others and in public or in private.

According to unofficial sources, there are more than 300,000 Baha'i citizens in Iran, but the Iranian constitution only recognizes Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism, and does not recognize the Baha'i religion. For this reason, the rights of Baha'is in Iran have been systematically violated over the past years.

Source: HRANA