26 Baha'is sentenced in Shiraz; 85 years in prison and 24 years in exile

The Shiraz Revolutionary Court has sentenced 26 Baha’is to 85 years in prison and 24 years in exile on charges of “collusion and gathering with the intention of committing a crime against the internal and external security of the country.” They have also been sentenced to have their passports revoked and are prohibited from leaving the country.

Twenty-six Baha’i citizens have been sentenced by Branch 1 of the Shiraz Revolutionary Court, headed by Mahmoud Sadati, to a total of 85 years of penal servitude, 24 years of exile to various cities in Iran, the revocation of their passports, and a ban on leaving the country. Another part of the verdict states that these individuals must report to the provincial intelligence office daily for two years.

The charges against these citizens are “collusion and association with the intent to commit a crime against the internal and external security of the country,” and the sentences issued are subject to appeal.

This verdict was issued despite the defendants' lawyers repeatedly reporting to the court the many flaws and deficiencies in the case, and "the connection of many of the people convicted in this case to the charges is unclear."

According to reports received by Deutsche Welle, the names of these citizens are as follows:

Saeed Hassani, Shadi Sadegh Aghdam, Shamim Akhlaqi, Sahba Farahbakhsh, Parisa Rouhizadegan, Ismail Rousta, Bahareh Norouzi, Behnam Azizpour, Samareh Thamreh, Farbod and Farzad Shadman, Ramin Shirvani, Rezvan Yazdani, Soroush Eqani Saghadi, Sahba Moslehi, Ohdieh Enayati, Lala Salehi, Mojgan Gholampour Saadi, Marjan Gholampour, Maryam Eslami Mehdiabadi, Mahyar Sefidi Miandoab, Nabil Tahdhib, Noushin Zanhari, Yekta Fahandezh Saadi, Varga Kaviani, and Nasim Kashani Nejad.

The verdict issued against 26 Baha'i citizens refers to "presence and gathering" in poor neighborhoods and on the outskirts of Shiraz and "gathering" in holy religious, tourist and tourist sites, including Shah Cheragh, Hafeziyeh, Persepolis and Narenjestan.

Mahmoud Sadati, the judge in the case, stated in his ruling that these individuals, under the “pretext” of investigating the water crisis, social and environmental damage, have fueled “intellectual and ideological insecurity” in the Islamic community and have propagated the Baha’i faith among Muslims in line with the “evil plan of the leaders and thinking of the misguided Baha’i sect.” He considered this an example of “disrupting the country’s internal and external security.”

The Baha'i Faith is referred to as a "deviant sect" by security and official government institutions in Iran.

Many doubts and objections in the case

According to information received by Deutsche Welle, the Ministry of Intelligence has arrested these individuals in several stages and filed cases against them. Initially, six of these individuals were arrested for their activities in the field of “environment,” and then 20 others were arrested and interrogated “without any connection to these activities and without even knowing about the existence of these projects.”

According to informed sources, the only reason for issuing these sentences for many of these individuals was their "friendly relationship" with people involved in environmental projects and their "belief in the Baha'i faith," and it seems that pressure from security agencies is the main reason for issuing such sentences against these citizens.

The first court hearing to hear the charges against these citizens was held on July 15, 2020, and the second hearing, after the objections were resolved, was held on October 5, 2020. During the first hearing, the defendants' lawyers pointed out objections to the case to the judge.

The verdict was communicated orally to the lawyers and “no written notification was made to the convicts.” This is despite the fact that the Sana system has been launched by the Iranian judiciary for the electronic notification of verdicts and notifications from judicial institutions in recent years. Iranian courts are obliged to inform citizens and their lawyers of their verdicts and notifications through this system.

Yekta Fahandezh is one of the Baha’i citizens who has been sentenced by this court to five years in prison, a two-year ban on leaving the country, and the revocation of his passport. This is despite the fact that he was arrested twice by the Shiraz Ministry of Intelligence on similar charges in previous years, and was ultimately acquitted of all charges during the appeal and retrial to the Supreme Court.

The situation of the Baha'is of Shiraz

Baha'is, as a religious minority in Iran, have always been subjected to pressure and persecution by the authorities and officials of the Islamic Republic, and they have been referred to as "spies and enemies."

Security pressures on Baha'is in Shiraz and Fars Province are not unprecedented, and Baha'is in this province have been persecuted since the beginning of the Islamic Republic. Currently, dozens of Baha'i citizens in Shiraz are awaiting the issuance or execution of their security orders.

For example, two years ago, the Fars Provincial Court of Appeal sentenced 12 followers of this religion to a total of 33 years in prison and punishments such as "cash fines" and "dismissal from government and state services."

The oppression and persecution of Baha'is in Iran was not limited to the Islamic Republic, but after the Islamic Revolution, these repressions intensified and expanded. In the early years of the Islamic government in Iran, many of these citizens were assassinated or executed. The followers of this faith in Shiraz accounted for a large proportion of the executions. In the most well-known case, 16 Baha'i citizens were executed en masse in this city on June 16 and 1983.

The Baha'i Faith is not officially recognized as a religious minority in the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and this has faced its followers with numerous restrictions, including restrictions on business, denial of employment in government and high-paying jobs, denial of education in universities, and a ban on having administrative organizations and conducting religious affairs.

Source: DW