Iran Press Watch » prison

4 Baha’i citizens held behind bars under very unsound conditions at Shiraz Pirbenoy prison

editor — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 03:05:37 +0000

[RAHANA 16 Dec. 2011] Even though prison officials at Pirbenoy prison in the city of Shiraz assured the prisoners, Vehdat Dana, Afshin Ehsenian, Farham Masoumi, and Keyvan Karmi, that the conditions would become better, they have gotten much worse.

Human Rights House of Iran reports that in the past days, Vehdat Dana, Afshin Ehsanian, Farham Masoumi and Keyvan Karmi were transferred to Ward 1 of Shiraz Pirbenoy prison where they are being kept in a very cold cell with 30 other prisoners.

These 4 Baha’i prisoners are prohibited from exiting the cell, depriving them of any movement in the ward. They are banned from visitations and are not allowed to contact their families. Even though their families delivered their medications, the prisoners did not receive them due to the prison infirmary being closed. These conditions are especially dangerous for Vehdat Dana who is suffering from heart disease.

Branch 1 of the Shiraz Revolutionary Court handed down a 10-month prison sentence to these 4 Baha’i citizens on March 1, 2010 on the charge of “propaganda against the regime.” The sentencing was upheld at the Shiraz appellate court in August 2011. They were arrested in early December 2011 and transferred to Pirbenoy prison in Shiraz to serve their sentences behind bars.

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Source: http://www.rahana.org/en/?p=12273

Article in Persian: http://www.rahana.org/archives/46566

Bahai’s in Iran: seven educators sent to prison amid fresh persecution

editor — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 19:04:43 +0000

[huffingtonpost.co.uk, 11-Nov-2011, by Dr. Khishan Manocha] The tide of persecution in Iran is rising. In a fresh wave of attacks against the Bahá’í community – Iran’s largest religious minority – three women were arrested on spurious charges of activity against national security following terrifying raids on 16 homes in the city of Rasht. In Semnan, around 10 Bahá’í-owned shops were sealed up by authorities. Business licences were cancelled. Such tactics are not random; they are moves in an ongoing campaign to impoverish Iranian Bahá’ís and make their lives untenable.

These abuses underline the recent statement of Dr Heiner Bielefeldt, the United Nations special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, that Iran’s persecution of the Bahá’ís is among the most “extreme manifestations of religious intolerance and persecution” in the world today.

Experience shows that Tehran is shrewd, vindictive, and dishonest enough, to ramp-up persecution while the world’s attention is diverted. Syria and the nuclear question must not push Iran’s human rights tragedy off the agenda.

Oppression in Iran is widespread; women’s activists, political activists, Kurds, Sunnis, others whose views are not shared by the state, and even the lawyers who defend them, suffer at the hands of the government’s security and legal apparatus. The recent sentencing to death for apostasy of Youcef Nardakhani, a Christian pastor, on the basis of his Muslim ancestry, is a stark example of the contempt with which the government holds the rights of its people. The rank hypocrisy of President Ahmadinejad’s recent assertion of Iran’s “ethics, humanity, solidarity and justice” on the world stage is plain to see.

For the Bahá’ís – a community comprising adherents from all areas and strata of Iranian society – new and mounting afflictions are being endured. Seven Bahá’í educators, who were teaching young Bahá’ís denied access to universities as a matter of policy, were sentenced in September to jail terms of four or five years apiece. The charge – in effect, that they threatened state security by offering education in the sciences and arts – is patently absurd. It cannot be seen as anything other than a blatant act of religious discrimination and a calculated manoeuvre to make the community’s existence unviable. Iran’s prohibition on the attendance of foreign diplomats at the trial, and its refusal to provide written documentation of the verdict, betrays only its own guilt.

Little wonder, then, that on 3 November, the UN Human Rights Committee criticized Iran’s non-compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the country is a state party. An Iranian delegation protested its innocence, claiming that, “no Iranian citizen enjoys priority over others due to his/her race, religion or particular language.”

No one should be fooled by Iran’s protestations. Since Iran’s military and security agencies were instructed to monitor the Bahá’í community in 2005, there has been a marked rise in arrests and persecution. In 2004 four Bahá’ís were imprisoned. Since then, 500 have been arrested. More than a hundred Bahá’ís are currently behind bars. This includes the community’s national leadership, found guilty of crimes their lawyer, Nobel laureate Dr Shirin Ebadi, said were without evidence. Raids, arrests, confiscation of property, the imposition of arbitrary and exorbitant bail costs, denial of access to education, and desecration of graves: these violations have escalated to desperate levels.

And the government has gone further. Recently in Sanandaj, the authorities attempted to persuade Bahá’ís to undertake not to participate in regular gatherings that are a fundamental part of Bahá’í community life. This is analogous to pressuring Christians to stop going to Church on Sunday. It is an egregious step-change in the government’s efforts to dismantle every aspect of Bahá’í life, from the leadership down to the grassroots of Bahá’í communal identity.

What is more, the government incites hatred against the Bahá’ís from the wider population. The Bahá’í International Community last month released a report on a media campaign that demonizes and vilifies the Bahá’ís. Sanctioned by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei himself, who identified the Bahá’ís as “enemies of Islam” in a speech on 19 October 2010, Bahá’ís are branded variously as “others”, as spies, as the promoters of obscene immorality and armed rebellion, and as the controllers of foreign media such as the BBC. They are the scapegoats for every social ill. Invoking a gross distortion of history, the Bahá’ís are portrayed as a “misguided sect” or as agents of Western and Zionist imperialism. Often they are depicted as ghouls. They are linked to Satanists, the Shah’s secret police, and other organisations inimical to the state. And yet Bahá’í teachings promote peace and unity. Bahá’ís are spiritually obliged to abide by the law. Eschewing opposition to the government, and refusing the mantle of victimhood, they strive as they have always done to contribute to the betterment of their society.

Iran’s intention to extinguish the Bahá’í community is clear. More than 200 Bahá’ís have been executed for their beliefs since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. International scrutiny and pressure has, for now, forced Iran to change tactics; but the government’s campaign to squeeze the life out of the Bahá’í community is otherwise escalating and taking on new forms. It is attempting nothing less than a bloodless elimination of a significant section of Iran’s citizens.

Moreover, the parallels between recent events and state-sponsored, anti-religious campaigns of the past are undeniable. History shows that such campaigns are among the foremost precursors of actual violence against religious minorities. The Bahá’ís in Iran have good reason to be concerned that the recent assaults on their community could presage a wider attack. The world has a duty to protect them. To look away now would allow the rising tide of persecution drown out the hope of justice in Iran.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/dr-kishan-manocha/bahais-in-iran-seven-educ_b_1103752.html

Baha’i Citizen Anvar Moslemi Began Serving Prison Sentence

editor — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 07:40:06 +0000

Anvar Moslemi has begun serving his one year prison sentence in Sari Prison. He had been detained and interrogated twice before.

According to the Human Rights House of Iran, he had been sentenced to one year in prison for anti-regime propaganda.

Possession of books and CDs related to the Baha’i faith had been stated as the evidence for anti-regime propaganda.

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Source: http://www.rahana.org/en/?p=12217

Persian Article:http://www.rahana.org/archives/45943

No justice as Sedghi brother sentenced in Iran

editor — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 23:26:36 +0000

[Dubbo Weekender, 22 Oct. 2011] Since his brother Farhad was arrested in his native Iran in May this year, Nasser Sedghi and his family have been anxiously awaiting news of the dedicated educator’s fate ar the hands of the exrtremist Iranian Revolutionary Court.

This week, Nasser received that news — but it was not as the family had hopped.

Farhad jas been sentenced to four years imprisonment after being held, without charge, at Tehran’s Evein prison in Iran for more than four months — the victim of a 30 year campaign of religious persecution waged by that country’s extremist Islamic regime against people of the Baha’i faith.

Read full article from IPW’s repository here.

Read full article from Dubbo Weekender’s on-line publication: Saturday 22 Oct. 2011, page 19: http://www.dubboweekender.com.au/index.html

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Source: http://www.dubboweekender.com.au/index.html, Page 19, Saturday 22 Oct. 2011, Dubbo Weekender,

Baha’i educators sentenced

editor — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 17:15:24 +0000

The seven Baha'i educators sentenced to prison are (top row, left to right): Mahmoud Badavam, Ramin Zibaie, Riaz Sobhani, Farhad Sedghi; (bottom row, left to right) Noushin Khadem, Kamran Mortezaie, and Vahid Mahmoudi.

[BWNS, 18 Oct. 2011] NEW YORK — Seven Baha’i educators in Iran have each received four- or five-year prison sentences, according to reports received by the Baha’i International Community.

Verdicts against the seven were reportedly handed down by a judge at Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran.

The educators have been detained for almost five months in connection with their involvement in an informal community initiative – known as the Baha’i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE) – in which Baha’i professors, debarred by the Iranian government from practicing their professions, offer their services to teach young community members who are banned from university.

Two of the individuals, Vahid Mahmoudi and Kamran Mortezaie, were each sentenced to five years imprisonment.

Four year jail terms were given to BIHE lecturers Ramin Zibaie, Mahmoud Badavam and Farhad Sedghi, consultant Riaz Sobhani, and helper Nooshin Khadem.

Read profiles of the BIHE prisoners

“It is not even clear at this stage what the exact charges were against these innocent souls, whose only desire was to serve young people who have been unjustly barred from higher education on purely religious grounds,” said Bani Dugal, Principal Representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Nations.

“What kind of society makes educating the young a punishable crime?” she said.

Two other Baha’is associated with BIHE – husband and wife Kamran Rahimian and Faran Hesami, both psychology instructors – are also still being held without charge.

Global protest

The most recent attacks carried out against BIHE continue to provoke condemnation from governments, organizations, academics and young people throughout the world.

More than 70 academics in Australia, including University of Ballarat vice-chancellor, David Battersby, have signed an open letter protesting Iran’s educational discrimination against Baha’is and calling for the immediate release of the imprisoned educators.

On 10 October, 43 prominent philosophers and theologians in 16 countries signed a letter of protest. “To acquire knowledge and learning is the sacred and legal right of all; indeed, the state is obliged to provide it. In Iran, the government has done the opposite…” wrote the academics.

Two Nobel Peace Prize laureates – Desmond Tutu, the Anglican Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, and Jose Ramos-Horta, President of East Timor – in another open letter, sharply criticized the Iranian government, comparing its actions to “the Dark Ages of Europe” or the “Spanish Inquisition.”

On 5 October, resuming a Canadian Senate debate about the Baha’is in Iran, Senator Hugh Segal described the suffering heaped on Baha’is as “systematic and brutal, especially when the Baha’i are known as a peaceful faith that embraces the sanctity of all religions.”

“The official Iranian oppression of Baha’i … is a clarion call to humanity and to free peoples and democracies everywhere to look directly at the harsh colors of the Iranian reality and not look away until the challenge is faced head on,” said Senator Segal.

Around 112 Baha’is are currently behind bars in Iran because of their religion. This includes the seven Baha’i leaders, serving 20-year jail terms on trumped-up charges. The cases of some 300 other Baha’is are still active with the Iranian authorities.

Baha’i World News Service coverage of the persecution of the Baha’is in Iran

The Baha’i World News Service has published a Special Section which includes further articles and background information about Iran’s campaign to deny higher education to Baha’is. It contains news of latest developments, a summary of the situation, profiles of imprisoned Baha’i educators, feature articles, case studies and testimonials from students, resources and links.

Another Special Report offers articles and background information about the seven Iranian Baha’i leaders – their lives, their imprisonment, trial and sentencing – and the allegations made against them. It also offers further resources about the persecution of Iran’s Baha’i community.

The International Reaction page of the Baha’i World News service is regularly updated with responses from governments, nongovernmental organizations, and prominent individuals, to actions taken against the Baha’is of Iran.

The Media Reports page presents a digest of media coverage from around the world.

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Source: http://news.bahai.org/story/860

Total of 30 Years in Prison for Baha’i University Officials

editor — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 16:57:34 +0000

[HRA, 17 Oct. 2011] HRANA News Agency – Seven professors and officials involved in Baha’i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE) have been sentenced to a total of 30 years in prison. BIHE is a provisional online university established for Baha’i citizens who have been denied the opportunity to study at Iran’s higher education institutes.
According to the Committee of Human Rights Reporters, during the last couple of days, Judge Moqayaseh presiding over the 28^th branch of the Revolutionary Court has sentenced seven Baha’i citizens to a total of 30 years in prison. The defendants were present in the courtroom when the verdicts were read. Defense attorneys objected to the rulings and filed appeals on behalf of their clients. The verdicts are as follows:

Kamran Mortezahi – 5 years imprisonment
Vahid Mahmodi – 5 years imprisonment
Riaz Sobhani – 4 years imprisonment
Mahmoud Badavam – 4 years imprisonment
Ramin Zibaie – 4 years imprisonment
Farhad Sedghi – 4 years imprisonment
Noshin Khadam – 4 years imprisonment

Citing Article 499 of the Islamic Penal Code [1], Judge Moqayaseh sentenced seven Baha’i professors and university officials for being involved in an illegal group with the intention to commit crimes against Iran’s national security. These seven individuals together with nearly 300,000 other citizens throughout the country are members of Iran’s Baha’i Community outlawed by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

On May 22, 2011, Iranian security forces raided the houses of more than 40 Baha’i professors, students and university officials and arrested six of the aforementioned individuals. Riaz Sobhani was arrested separately on June 13, 2011. During the last few months, more than 20 Baha’i citizens connected to the online university have been detained, and nearly 50 individuals have been summoned to the Intelligence Agency. Furthermore, several buildings including a laboratory have been sealed, and the university’s website has been filtered and blocked multiple times.

Last week, all of the defendants with the exception of Noshin Khadam were transferred to Rajai-Shahr Prison. On October 15, 2011, Noshin Khadam was transferred to the women’s ward in Evin Prison.

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Source: http://www.en-hrana.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=552:total-of-30-years-in-prison-for-bahai-university-officials&catid=13:religious-minorities&Itemid=13

[1] Article 499 mandates three months to five years’ imprisonment. Two cases above have passed the maximum penalty under article 499, and five cases of 80% of the maximum sentence.

Baha’i Citizen Bashir Ehsani Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison

editor — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 18:13:41 +0000

[RAHANA, 1-Oct-2011] Education rights activist Bashir Ehsani has been sentenced to 5 years in prison.

His trial was held in August and his charges included disturbing public order and possession of satellites. However, Judge Pirabbas has ignored the report of his interrogator and has changed his charges into gathering and conspiracy to disturb national security.

The interrogator had acquitted him of conspiracy, blasphemy and anti-regime propaganda.

He had been summoned before and was interrogated for hours in one instance.

He was arrested following the Ashura protests and later released on bail. The authorities raided his home in February but were unable to arrest him.

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Sources: http://www.rahana.org/en/?p=11943

Persian Article: http://www.rahana.org/archives/44743

Baha’i Citizen Afshin Ighani Began Serving Prison Sentence

editor — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 07:04:05 +0000

[RAHANA 14 Sep. 2011] The prison sentence has been upheld for the Freedom Movement of Iran member Mehdi Gholizadeh.

Afshin Ighani appeared at Semnan Prison after his 4 year, 3 month and 1 day prison sentence was upheld by the appeals court to begin serving his sentence.

Afshin Ighani was arrested on January 5, 2010 and was released on bail on February 28, 2010. He was convicted of the charges of disturbing national security and of the charge of propaganda against the regime by supporting anti-regime groups. The issued verdict also indicated that all possessions of Mr. Ighani which are related to his charges will be confiscated.

On March 12, 2009, Ministry Intelligence agents has visited Mr Ighani’s shops, confiscated half of his goods ans asked him to sell the remaining items before start of Iranian new year (March 21).

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Source: http://www.rahana.org/en/?p=11874

Persian Article: http://www.rahana.org/archives/44387

Ten Month Prison Sentence Upheld for Shiraz Baha’i Citizens

editor — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 04:09:37 +0000

[RAHANA 21 Aug. 2011] The 10 month prison sentence for the Baha’i citizens who were arrested 2 years ago has been upheld by the appeals court.

Haleh Houshmandi, Kavous Zargham, Keivan Karami, Farham Masoumi, Vahdat Dana and Afshin Ahsanian are the Shiraz Baha’i citizens who were arrested in 2009 and were later released on bail after being held in the detention center of Shiraz Intelligence Ministry.

According to the Human Rights House of Iran, the lower court sentenced them to 10 months in prison.

Recently, their lawyers were informed that the lower court’s verdict has been upheld by the appeals court. The summons order states that they have to appear at Shiraz Revolutionary Court in order to serve their sentence in the next 20 days.

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Source: http://www.rahana.org/en/?p=11754

Persian Article: http://www.rahana.org/archives/43529

More Than Fifty Baha’i Citizens Imprisoned in Iran

editor — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 03:52:33 +0000

[HRA 17 Aug. 2011] HRANA News Agency – While in various international gatherings and interviews conducted with foreign media, Iranian government officials continue to claim that no one is imprisoned in Iran because of their beliefs, according to official statistics, there are more than 50 Baha’i citizens either temporarily detained or serving prison terms in various cities throughout Iran.Additionally, there is at least the same number of Baha’i citizens waiting to be tried or sentenced in different cities all over the country.

According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), in various cities including Tehran, Karaj, Esfahan, Shiraz, Semnan, Mashhad, Urmia, Tabriz, Pars Abad, Ghaem Shahr, Babol, Sari, Kerman, Rafsanjan, Sanandaj, Yasuj and Kermanshah, there are a large number of Baha’i citizens who are in a legal state of limbo with their future uncertain.

All of these Baha’i citizens have been arrested, charged or convicted of propaganda against the regime by the virtue of their Baha’i faith or acting against the national security through attending religious Baha’i gatherings, membership in Baha’i organizations, managing Baha’i communities in cities or the whole country, or defending the rights of Baha’i citizens in Iran.

Baha’i citizens who are imprisoned in Iran’s official prisons or the detention centers operated by the Intelligence Agency include:

Evin Prison – Women’s Ward

1. Mahvash Sabet – Sentenced to 20 years in prison (Previous member of Iranian Baha’i Governing Council)
2. Fariba Kamalabadi – Sentenced to 20 years in prison (Previous member of Iranian Baha’i Governing Council)
3. Manijeh Nasrollahi – Sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in prison (Transferred from Semnan Prison)
4. Sahba Rezvani – Sentenced to 3 years and 1 months in prison (Transferred from Semnan Prison)
5. Susan Tabyaniyan – Sentenced to 1 ½ years in prison (Transferred from Semnan Prison)
6. Sholeh Taief – Sentenced to 1 year in prison (Transferred from Semnan Prison)

Evin Prison – Ward 350

7. Sama Norani – Sentenced to 1 year in prison
8. Payman Kashfi – Sentenced to 4 years in prisonArtin Ghazanfari – Sentenced to 1 year in prison

Evin Prison – Temporarily Detention / Interrogation

9. Kiumars Bahin-A’in – Transferred from Esfahan Prison
10. Shamim Bahin-A’in – Transferred from Esfahan Prison
11. Sina Ravankard – Transferred from Yasuj Prison
12. Parvaneh Behamin – Transferred from Yasuj Prison (A resident of Kata Village)
13. Behruz Behamin – Transferred from Shiraz Prison
14. Malieh Roozbehe (Roozkhosh) – Transferred from Shahravazlar in Fars Province
15. Behnoosh Dadgar – Transferred from Esfahan Prison
16. Kamran Mortezaie – Imprisoned in relation to Baha’i Provisional University
17. Vahid Mahmoudi – Imprisoned in relation to Baha’i Provisional University
18. Ramin Zibei – Imprisoned in relation to Baha’i Provisional University
19. Noshin Khadem – Imprisoned in relation to Baha’i Provisional University
20. Mahmoud Badavam – Imprisoned in relation to Baha’i Provisional University
21. Farhad Sadaghi – Imprisoned in relation to Baha’i Provisional University
22. Riyaz Sabhani – Probably imprisoned in relation to Baha’i Provisional University

Rajai Shahr Prison – Karaj

23. Jamal Aldin Khanjani – Sentenced to 20 years in prison (Previous member of Iranian Baha’i Governing Council)
24. Afif Naimi – Sentenced to 20 years in prison (Previous member of Iranian Baha’i Governing Council)
25. Behrooz Tavakoli – Sentenced to 20 years in prison (Previous member of Iranian Baha’i Governing Council)
26. Saied Rezaie – Sentenced to 20 years in prison (Previous member of Iranian Baha’i Governing Council)
27. Vahid Tizfahm – Sentenced to 20 years in prison (Previous member of Iranian Baha’i Governing Council)

Mashhad

28. Sima Eshraghi – Sentenced to 5 years in prison
29. Rezita Vaseghi – Sentenced to 5 years in prison (New case open)
30. Nahid Ghadiry – Sentenced to 5 years in prison (New case open)
31. Davar Nabilzadeh – Sentenced to 5 years in prison
32. Jalayer Vahdat – Sentenced to 5 years in prison
33. Kavyz Nozdehi – Sentenced to 2 years in prison
34. Sima Rajabiyan – Sentenced to 2 years in prison
35. Nasrin Ghadiri – Sentenced to 2 years in prison
36. Homman Bakhtavar – Sentenced to 2 years in prison
37. Dari Amri – Held in Mashhad Intelligence Agency Detention Center
38. Farhod Eshtiagh – Held in Mashhad Intelligence Agency Detention Center (Transferred from Esfahan Prison)

Semnan

39. Behfar Khanjani – Sentenced to 4 years in prison
40. Siamak Ayghani – Sentenced to 3 years in prison
41. Ali Ehsani – Sentenced to 2 years in prison

Khash

42. Mehran Bandi – Sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in prison (Transferred from Yazd Prison)

Sari

43. Tareh Taghizadeh – Sentenced to 22 months in prison
44. Samira Samiei – Sentenced to 6 months in prison

Amol

45. Houshang Fanaian – Sentenced to 4 years in prison

Shiraz

46. Raha Sabet – Sentenced to 4 years in prison

Esfahan

47. Vahid Misaghian – In temporary custody by Intelligence Agency
48. Shahnaz Talehi – In temporary custody by Intelligence Agency
49. Kayvan Dehghani – In temporary custody by Intelligence Agency
50. Navid Parvini – In temporary custody by Intelligence Agency
51. Negar Sobhanian – In temporary custody by Intelligence Agency
52. Farshid Badakhsh – In temporary custody by Intelligence Agency

Yasuj

53. Ali Bakhesh Bazr Afkan – Sentenced to 2 years and six months in prison

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Source: http://www.en-hrana.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=484:more-than-fifty-bahai-citizens-imprisoned-in-iran&catid=13:religious-minorities&Itemid=13