A new wave of attacks on Baha'is in Iran
Six Baha'i citizens who were sentenced to long prison terms by the Fourth Branch of the Bushehr Provincial Court of Appeal in September of last year were summoned to serve their sentences.
According to information received by the Persian service of the Voice of America, Haydeh Ram, a Baha'i citizen, was arrested by security authorities in Iran on June 17 and transferred to Adelabad Prison in Shiraz to serve her sentence. After that, five other citizens who were sentenced to prison at the same time as her were called to the sentence execution unit of the Borazjan Prosecutor's Office in Bushehr Province.
The case of these citizens, named Borhan Esmaili, Dorna Esmaili, Frank Sheikhi, Haydeh Ram, Maryam Bashir, and Minoo Bashir, who have been accused of "propaganda against the system" due to their adherence to Baha'iism, has been ongoing since 2019.
According to the information available in this case, three members of a family, "Bohran Esmaili father, Frank Sheikhi mother, and Dorna Esmaili child, have been sentenced to "more than 30 years in prison," and Maryam and Minoo Bashir, who are sisters, have also been sentenced to more than 20 years in prison.
The charges against Burhan Esmaili, as the first defendant, are "acting against the security of the country by spreading and propagating the ideas of the Baha'i sect" and "propaganda activity against the system by spreading the ideas of the Baha'i sect," and based on these, he has been sentenced to 11 years in prison.
The other defendants in this case have each been sentenced to "10 years and 9 months in prison" on charges of "assisting in propaganda against the regime and acting against national security."
Previously, the Baha'i International Community issued a statement to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, reporting on "increased pressures" on Baha'is in Iran and expressing deep concern about their "systematic harassment" by the Islamic Republic.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has also repeatedly expressed concern about the state of religious and religious freedom in Iran. In an exclusive interview with the Persian service of the Voice of America, Nadine Menza, the chairwoman of the commission, called the increasing persecution of Baha'is and Christian believers "a cause for concern" and said that conditions for all religious minorities in Iran remain inadequate.
Source: Voice of America
