According to reports by Human Rights House of Iran, Samin Ehsani was arrested when she went court to attend to her passport issues. Security agents raided and inspected her house after her arrest, and confiscated all of Samin’s personal belongings including her computer and all articles related to the Baha’i faith.

Samin Ehsani is now being held behind bars in Evin’s detention center.

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Source: http://www.rahana.org/en/?p=11725

Article in Persian: http://www.rahana.org/archives/43400

]]> http://www.iranpresswatch.org/post/8274/feed 7 http://www.iranpresswatch.org/post/8123 http://www.iranpresswatch.org/post/8123#comments Thu, 07 Jul 2011 03:36:30 +0000 editor http://www.iranpresswatch.org/?p=8123 (HRA 15 June 2011) HRANA News Agency – Riyaz Sobhani, a Baha’i citizen residing in Tehran, was arrested this morning in his house.

According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), security forces entered Riyaz Sobhani’s house on June 15, 2011 at 6:30am without a warrant and arrested him without showing cause.

Riyaz Sobhani is the father of Jinoos Sobhani who was the former secretary at the Defenders of Human Rights Center. She was arrested once in 2008 and then again in 2009.

Artin Ghazanfari is Jinoos Sobhani’s husband who is currently locked up in Evin Prison, serving his one year sentence. After the events following Ashura protests which occurred on December 27, 2009, Artin Ghazanfari together with his wife and other Baha’i citizens were arrested in the same month.

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Source: http://www.en-hrana.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=384:bahai-citizen-riyaz-sobhani-arrested&catid=13:religious-minorities&Itemid=13

In January of 2008, he had been detained along with 11 other Baha’is and his house had been searched by the security forces. According to the Human Rights House of Iran, he was released on bail after 2 months of solitary confinement. Aghsani, 32, has been sentenced to a $400 fine and 3 years in prison.

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Source: http://www.rahana.org/en/?p=10344

It is noteworthy that amongst the six aforementioned citizens, three of the employees are the followers of the Baha’i faith. Thus far, not only clear and specific charges for these arrests haven’t been filed but the whereabouts of the detainees yet to be disclosed to their families.

It is also important to mention that these arrests were made following a report released by the Fars News Agency, banning the use of automatic doors manufacture by Achilandoor Company for security reasons and charging the company to be affiliated with the Baha’i believers.

HRANA News Agency – While more than two months have passed since the CEO and five employees of Achilandoor Company were detained by IRGC [Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps] intelligence officers, in the last few days, all Baha’i employees and workers of this company in the cities of Tehran and Mashhad have been fired following an order issued by the Intelligence Office of IRGC.
According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), the exact number of those expelled isn’t yet known, but it is estimated that more than 25 Baha’i citizens have been fired on the eve of the Persian New Year.

It is noteworthy that amongst the six aforementioned citizens, three of the employees are the followers of the Baha’i faith. Thus far, not only clear and specific charges for these arrests haven’t been filed but the whereabouts of the detainees yet to be disclosed to their families.

It is also important to mention that these arrests were made following a report released by the Fars News Agency, banning the use of automatic doors manufacture by Achilandoor Company for security reasons and charging the company to be affiliated with the Baha’i believers.

Source: http://www.en-hrana.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=253:0000&catid=13:religious-minorities&Itemid=13

 TEHRAN (AFP) – A number of Bahais who were “promoting their faith in kindergartens” have been arrested, a prosecutor in the southern city of Bam was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying on Saturday.

“A number of Bahais who were promoting their programmes under the guise of kindergartens in Bam, Kerman and Tehran were arrested by intelligence agents after nine months of intelligence work,” prosecutor Mohammad Reza Sanjari said.

“This group had also infiltrated a local newspaper in Kerman province and were weaving Bahai views into children’s stories,” Sanjari added without naming the publication.

He did not say how many people had been arrested or when.

The Bahais, who are barred from higher education and government posts in staunchly Shiite Muslim Iran, are regarded as infidels and have been persecuted both before and after the country’s 1979 Islamic revolution.

In August, Iran sentenced seven leading members of the community to 20 years in jail on charges ranging from spying for foreigners, spreading corruption on earth, undermining Islam and cooperating with arch-foe Israel.

The French Bahai community later said its lawyers had been told the sentences, which had sparked criticism from the international community, had been halved.

The Bahais consider Bahaullah, born in 1817, to be the latest prophet sent by God and believe in the spiritual unity of all religions and all mankind.

Bahai leaders believe a total of 47 members of their religion are imprisoned in Iran simply for their beliefs.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110312/wl_mideast_afp/iranreligionbahaiarrest

RAHANA: Baha’i citizen Farid Rohani who was detained following the Ashura protests, has been summoned to the Revolutionary Court on December 11^th.

According to the Committee of Human Rights Reporters, Rohani was detained on December 3^rd along with a number of other Baha’i citizens and was temporary released on bail on February 28^th. He had been confined in Evin Prison for the first 10 days of his detention and was subsequently transferred to the Rajaei Shahr Prison.

His charges include acting against national security, blasphemy, disturbing public order and supplying propaganda material for foreigners.

His workplace has been confiscated since his release. It seems that the Intelligence Ministry has ordered the action.

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Source: http://www.rahana.org/en/?p=7824

]]> http://www.iranpresswatch.org/post/6988/feed 4 http://www.iranpresswatch.org/post/6320 http://www.iranpresswatch.org/post/6320#comments Wed, 11 Aug 2010 22:21:08 +0000 editor http://www.iranpresswatch.org/?p=6320

Governments and human rights organizations around the world have expressed strong concern at reports that seven Iranian Baha'i leaders have each received prison sentences of 20 years.

GENEVA — Reports that seven Iranian Baha’i leaders have each received prison sentences of 20 years have been met with condemnation from governments and human rights organizations around the world.

Australia, Canada, France, Germany – and the President of the European Parliament – have all expressed strong statements of concern.

They are calling for the prisoners to be released on bail, for an annulment of the judgment, and for Iran to demonstrate that the trial was fair and in accordance with international standards.

Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lawrence Cannon, said that his country was “deeply disturbed” by the sentences that were “passed without either written judgments or due process.” He urged Iran to grant bail to the prisoners.

Germany described the outcome of the trial as a “massive setback for all those who engage themselves for the promotion of human dignity and human rights in Iran.”

Markus Loning, commissioner for human rights and humanitarian aid at Germany’s Foreign Office, said Iran must annul the judgment and “provide a fair and transparent court procedure.”

“There are major doubts as to the compliance with the basic legal rights during the judicial proceedings,” he said.

France expressed its “consternation” at the 20-year jail term.

At a press briefing, Christine Fages, a French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, stated that Iranian authorities should stop persecuting Baha’is and other religious minorities and “respect the freedom of religion and conscience as defined by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran has freely signed up.”

Australia has also shared its deep concern at the sentences. “We continue to call on Iran to ensure that all trials are

Yaran

fair and transparent and are conducted in accordance with Iran’s international obligations,” said a spokesman for the Australian government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

In a statement issued today, the President of the European Parliament – Jerzy Buzek – called the sentences “a shocking signal and an immense disappointment for all who have hoped for an improvement of the human rights situation in Iran.”

“Iran has committed itself to international standards and I underline that this includes also the respect and protection of religious freedom,” he said.

International human rights organizations have additionally joined the chorus of protest against the reported prison sentences.

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said the sentencing of the Baha’i leaders was “politically motivated, discriminatory, unjust, and illegal under Iranian and international law.”

“They have been sentenced for being Baha’is, nothing else, and their incarceration thus expresses a policy of oppression of the Baha’i Faith and its members,” said Aaron Rhodes, spokesperson for the Campaign.

Amnesty International described the Baha’i leaders as “prisoners of conscience jailed solely on account of their beliefs or peaceful activities on behalf of the persecuted Baha’i minority.”

“The seven were held for months without charge before being subjected to a parody of a trial. They must be immediately released,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa deputy director.

In a statement, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Iranian League for the Defence of Human Rights (LDDHI) asked for the Iranian government to “act in conformity with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as international human rights instruments ratified by the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

Human Rights Watch demanded the Iranian judiciary to release the seven immediately “given that no evidence appears to have ever been presented against them, and they have not been given a fair and public trial.”

“For more than two years now the Iranian authorities have utterly failed to provide the slightest shred of evidence indicating any basis for detaining these seven Baha’i leaders, let alone sentencing them to 20 years in prison,” said Joe Stork, deputy director of the Middle East division at Human Rights Watch.

Iran should take concrete steps that show it is committed to protecting the fundamental rights of Baha’is, said Mr. Stork

“The immediate and unconditional release of the seven Baha’i leaders would be a good start,” he said.

Diane Ala’i, Baha’i representative to the United Nations in Geneva, said the Baha’i International Community deeply appreciates the committed support offered so far by governments and human rights organizations.

“These statements demonstrate that increasing numbers of people of all races and religions throughout the world want to see justice done in Iran – not just for the Baha’is but all of its citizens who face gross human rights violations,” said Ms. Ala’i.

“For how much longer will the Iranian authorities remain oblivious to these upraised voices?” she said.

Source: BWNS http://news.bahai.org/story/787

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NEW YORK — The Baha’i International Community has received reports indicating that seven Iranian Baha’i leaders have each received jail sentences of 20 years.

The two women and five men have been held in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison since they were arrested in 2008 – six of them on 14 May and one of them two months earlier.

“If this news proves to be accurate, it represents a deeply shocking outcome to the case of these innocent and harmless people,” said Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Nations.

“We understand that they have been informed of this sentence and that their lawyers are in the process of launching an appeal,” said Ms. Dugal.

The prisoners – Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaie, Mahvash Sabet, Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Vahid Tizfahm – were all members of a national-level group that helped see to the minimum needs of Iran’s 300,000-strong Baha’i community, the country’s largest non-Muslim religious minority.

The trial of the seven consisted of six brief court appearances which began on 12 January this year after they had been incarcerated without charge for 20 months, during which time they were allowed barely one hour’s access to their legal counsel. The trial ended on 14 June.

The defendants were accused of espionage, propaganda activities against the Islamic order, and the establishment of an illegal administration, among other allegations. All the charges are completely and categorically denied.

Source: http://news.bahai.org/story/786

Afshin Heyratian

Tuesday, 05 Mordad 1389 at 11:27

Hrana News – Afshin Heyratian, human rights activist for working children and Baha’i citizen, resident of Tehran, has been living under arrest since 13th of Khordad [3 June].

As reported by the Committee of Reporters on Human Rights, the arrest of this civil activist took place in the park facing the Artists Home. Then, security elements, without any warrant in their hands, entered his home. Afshin Heyratian has been active with a group dealing with working children. It appears that several of other members of the group have also been arrested but no information is available about the names of other detainees.

After the passage of two months following the arrest, Afshin Heyratian has had only one telephone contact with his home and the family have succeeded in visiting him twice; the first visit was 28 days after his arrest and the second time on 31st of Tir [24 June].

Afshin Heyratian, children’s human rights activist and Baha’i citizen is currently being held in section 209 of Evin prison.

Translation by Iran Press Watch
Source: http://www.hra-news.org/1389-01-27-05-27-21/2980-1.html and also see http://www.iranpresswatch.org/fa/post/1003

According to HRA reporters, Peyman Kashfi, a Bahai citizen who was released on 100 Million Tooman bail [Approx. USD $100,000], was tried on Khordad 25 [June 15] in branch 28th of the Revolution court in the presence of judge Mohammad Maghyseh with charge of membership in a unlawful organization, in reference to section 499 of Laws of Islamic Punishments.

Last week, Judge Mohammad Maghyseh changed the reference in his verdict from section 499 to section 498, which would result in a harsher punishment for the defendant, and sentenced the defendant to 4 years in prison.

According to a knowledgeable source, a letter written by the judge for Peyman Kashfi is an exact copy of the opinion of experts from the Ministry of Information; in it the defendant is refered to as being a member of Baha’i’ faith, an element of Zionism.

Translation by Iran Press Watch

Source: http://www.hra-news.org/1389-01-27-05-24-07/2781-1.html