Source: BahaiNews1
Translation by Iran Press Watch
According to a report by “BahaiNews” dated October 1, 2016, the Baha’i cemetery in Urumia has been demolished for the second time, and trees there were set on fire by unknown persons.
“On Friday we noticed that many trees left untouched from the first attack in the previous year were set on fire by unknown people, and many tombstones were destroyed,” an informed source told “BahaiNews”.
According to this source, many Baha’is went to the court and the police station after this incident and filed complaints against this destruction and burning. The authorities asked them whom they suspected had committed the crime. The Baha’is answered that they had no knowledge of who might have destroyed the Urumia Cemetery for the second time.
Earlier, “BahaiNews” had reported that on August 23, 2015, some unknown persons had cut down trees in the Baha’i cemetery in Urumia which had been planted 20 years earlier.
In recent months, another Baha’i cemetery was destroyed in Qorveh. The Security Forces have been actively refusing to bury Baha’is in their own cemeteries in many provinces in Iran.
After the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Baha’i cemeteries have been demolished several times. The new Baha’i cemetery in Urumia currently has official permit to bury Baha’is from that city. The authorities of the province and security forces have denied and blocked burial of Baha’is in their old cemetery for the last 5 years.
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1. “BahaiNews” is an independent non-Bahá’í initiative and is not affiliated with any Baha’i institutions.
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