Jila Shahriari, a Baha'i citizen, was arrested and transferred to Evin Prison to serve her sentence.

HRANA News Agency – Zhila Shahriari, a Baha’i citizen living in Tehran, was arrested and transferred to Evin Prison to serve her sentence.

According to HRANA News Agency, the news agency of the Human Rights Activists in Iran, on Sunday, September 10, 1402, Jila Shahriari, a Baha'i citizen, was arrested to serve her sentence.

An informed source told HRANA in this regard: “The Evin Prison Prosecution contacted Ms. Shahriari and asked her to go to the Prosecution to answer a few questions. When Ms. Shahriari went to the Prosecution, she was arrested and transferred to Evin Prison to serve her sentence.”

Zhila Shahriari was arrested in September 2016 by the Ministry of Intelligence forces and her home was searched, and she was released on bail after 31 days.

After some time, this Baha'i citizen was sentenced to 5 years in prison by Branch 28 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, headed by Mohammad Moghiseh, which was reduced to 2 years and 6 months in prison by the Court of Appeal.

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'is 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