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76 years of penal servitude and additional punishment for 26 Baha’i citizens
Ariyai Community News Agency – Today, Wednesday, September 9, 1401, the 37th branch of the Court of Appeal of Fars Province, headed by Kamran Zare and Saeed Blandzadeh, sentenced 26 Baha’i citizens to prison terms, ban on leaving the country and cancellation of passports.
According to the report of the Aryaei community news agency, citing human rights in Iran, on Thursday, September 3, 1401, Marjan Gholampour, Maryam Eslami Mahdiabadi, Parisa Rohizadegan, Ismail Rusta, Bahareh Norouzi, Behnam Azizpour, Samreh Tazhani, Ramin Shirvani, Rizvan Yazdani, Soroush Iqani Soghadi, Saeed Hosni, Shadi Sadeq Aghdam, Shamim Akhli, Sohba Farah Bakhsh, Sohba Moslehi, Ahadiah Enayati, Farbad Shadman, Farzad Shadman, Lala Salehi, Mozhgan Gholampour Saadi, Mehyar Sefidi Miandoab, Nabil Taheb, Nasim Kashaninejad, Yekta Fahandej Saadi, Noushin Zanhari, and Warka Kaviani, twenty-six Baha’i citizens from Shiraz, were sentenced by the 37th branch of the Court of Appeal of Fars province to a total of 76 years of imprisonment, each to a 2-year ban on leaving the country and the revocation of their passports.
The names of 26 Baha’i citizens who have been sentenced to a total of 76 years of penal servitude
- Marjan Gholampour
- Maryam Eslami Mahdiabadi
- Parisa Rohizadegan
- Ismail Rusta
- Bahareh Norouzi
- Behnam Azizpour
- Samreh Tazhani
- Ramin Shirvani
- Rizvan Yazdani
- Soroush Iqani Soghadi
- Saeed Hosni
- Shadi Sadeq Aghdam
- Shamim Akhli
- Sohba Farah Bakhsh
- Sohba Moslehi
- Ahadiah Enayati
- Farbad Shadman
- Farzad Shadman
- Lala Salehi
- Mozhgan Gholampour Saadi
- Mehyar Sefidi Miandoab
- Nabil Taheb
- Nasim Kashaninejad
- Yekta Fahandej Saadi
- Noushin Zanhari
- Warka Kaviani
According to the decree issued by the 37th branch of the Court of Appeal of Fars Province, the charges of these Baha’i citizens (gathering and collusion with the intention of committing a crime against internal and external security) and, accordingly, Yekta Fahandej Saadi, Lala Salehi, Mozhgan Gholampour, Rizvan Yazdani and Bahare Nowrozi, Nabil Tahdeeb, Behnam Azizpour, Saeed Hosni, Ramin Shirvani, Sohba Moslehi, each serving 5 years in prison, and Maryam Islami, Parisa Rouhizadegan, Marjan Gholampour, Sohba Farahbakhsh, Shadi Sadeq Aghdam, Ahadiya Enayati, Samreh Tazini, Shamim Akhlik, Farzad Shadman, Farbad Shadman, Mehyar Sefidi and Varga Kaviani, each sentenced to 2 years imprisonment and Nasim Kashaninejad, Ismail Rusta, Soroush Iqani and Noushin Zanhari, each sentenced to 6 months imprisonment and each of the defendants in this case to 2 The ban on leaving the country and the cancellation of their passports were also sentenced, and this verdict was served on the defendants of this case on September 3, 1401.
It should be noted that on June 26, 2019, these Baha’i citizens appeared in the first hearing, but due to the defects in the case and the lack of completion of the investigations of the Shiraz Intelligence Department and the alleged documents, the case was returned to the investigation branch of the Shiraz Prosecutor’s Office, and then On the 14th of October 1399, the second session and the 28th of May 1401, also the third session of the court hearing the general charges of these 26 Baha’i citizens, were held by Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court of Shiraz under the chairmanship of Judge Mahmoud Sadati and after presenting the defenses of these citizens On June 8, 1401, Baha’i was sentenced to a total of 85 years of penal servitude, twenty-four years of exile, a ban on leaving the country, and two years of daily reporting to the Shiraz Intelligence Department.
History of the courts of 26 Baha’i citizens
On March 24, 2018, Behnam Azizpour, Ramin Shirvani, Ismail Rusta, Noushin Zanhari and Saeed Hosni were summoned to the 10th Investigation Branch of Shiraz General and Revolution Prosecutor’s Office to attend the investigation session.
In the evening of October 7, 2016, Marjan Gholampour, Mozhgan Gholampour, Farbad Shadman, Farzad Shadman, Parisa Rouhizadegan, Shamim Akhli, Sohba Farahbakhsh, Sohba Moslehi, Ahadiya Enayati, Mahyar Sefidi, Shadi Aghdam, Varga Kaviani, Soroush Iqani and Maryam Islami, in Following the raid by the agents of the Shiraz Intelligence Department, they were arrested and transferred to the detention center of this security agency, and in November 2016, 8 of these people were temporarily released by posting a bail of 200 million Tomans each. Also, on November 15, 1395, Shamim Akhli, Farbad Shadman and Varga Kaviani were released from Adel Abad prison in Shiraz with bail in the amount of 200 million Tomans each.
On July 26, 1395, Noushin Zanhari, Behnam Azizpour, Saeed Hosseini, Ramin Shirvani, Ismail Rusta, and Yekta Fahandej Saadi were arrested by the agents of the Shiraz Intelligence Department at the private house of one of their friends and sent to the detention center of this security organization known as Plak. 100 were transferred.
Also, on July 27, 2018, Nabil Tahdeeb and Naeem Quaid Sharqi, two other Baha’i citizens, were arrested by the agents of the Shiraz Intelligence Department in connection with the same case.
Yekta Fahandej was arrested for the second time on March 25, 1392 by the agents of the Shiraz Intelligence Department for the charges of (propaganda against the regime) and (action against the country’s security) and was interrogated for 2 months in the detention center of the Shiraz Intelligence Department known as No. 100. He was arrested and after the completion of the interrogation process, he was released with a bail of 200 million tomans.
Also, on 26 July 1395, Yekta Fahandej Saadi was arrested for the third time by the agents of the Shiraz Intelligence Department in his personal home and after searching the home and confiscating some personal belongings from this Baha’i citizen, he was kept in solitary confinement for 81 days. They were kept by the Intelligence Department of this city, known as No. 100, and were finally released on a bail of 250 million tomans.
By referring the case of Yekta Fahandej to the Revolutionary Court, this Baha’i citizen was sentenced to 5 years in prison by Branch 1 of the Shiraz Revolutionary Court, by Mahmoud Sadati, on charges of (propaganda against the regime) and (action against the country’s security) on 27 June 1393 Taziri was sentenced.
By referring Yektafhandej’s case to the Court of Appeals, the case of this Baha’i citizen was re-examined by the 17th branch of the Court of Appeals of Fars Province and the sentence issued by the first court was reduced to 2 years of imprisonment and 3 years of suspended imprisonment and on 28 March In 1395, Yekta Fahandej Saadi was arrested and transferred to Adel Abad prison in Shiraz to serve the sentence of 2 years imprisonment and was released after 74 days due to the violation of the sentence in the Supreme Court until the case is re-examined.
On Saturday, October 29, 2016, the agents of the Shiraz Intelligence Department raided Yekta Fahandej’s house without a warrant, after searching the house and confiscating all the books, laptops, phones, and all the belongings of the owner and his guests, who were all Baha’is. They announced that they will send a summons to Yekta Fahandej Saadi at number 100 with a deadline of 5 days to introduce himself. This announcement was made while Yekta Fahandej was sent on leave and was summoned to the Shiraz Intelligence Department for the fourth time.
In December 2016, this Baha’i citizen was sentenced in absentia to 11 years of imprisonment by the 2nd branch of Shiraz Revolutionary Court.
Following his objection to the decision, the case was again referred to the 26th branch of the Court of Appeal of Fars province. On March 26, 1397, the appeal court of this Baha’i citizen was held. He was finally acquitted of the charges in this court session.
Suppression of Baha’i citizens in the Islamic Republic
According to the circular of the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution approved on March 6, 1369, Baha’i citizens are deprived of any citizenship rights and are faced with all kinds of human rights violations and coercive acts by the government of the Islamic Republic.
On the 1st of Shahrivar, 1401, Amnesty International called for an end to the repression of the Baha’is of Iran by publishing a request for immediate action while tightening the repression and applying security and social pressures on the Baha’i community of Iran due to the religious beliefs of these citizens.
Suppression of religious minorities violates Articles 2, 18, and 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which emphasizes the right of individuals to perform religious rituals, propaganda, and religious education, both collectively and privately.
Arresting people without explaining the charges and not having access to a lawyer for the accused are among the cases that violate international human rights documents, Article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights approved on December 16, 1966.
Also, people’s right to a fair trial is one of the inalienable rights emphasized in Article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Confession coupled with intimidation and threats violates Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and is a clear example of torture.
