Court of Appeals – Baha’i Kaviz Noozdahi Acquitted of Allegations

Source: www.hra-news.org

Translation by Iran Press Watch

HRANA News Agency – An Appeals Court on April 13th acquitted Kaviz Noozdahi, a Baha’i citizen residing in Mashhad.  He was arrested on May 2^nd 2018 and released on bail on May 27^th, 2018.  He was then sentenced to 4 years of prison by a lower court.

According to the HRANA News Agency, the news agency of Human Rights Activists in Iran, the Appeals Court acquitted Kaviz Noozdahi, a Baha’i living in Mashhad, of all charges.  The lower court sentenced Kaviz Noozdahi to 4 years imprisonment for “acting against national security” and “propaganda against the regime”.

Kaviz Noozdahi was arrested by security forces on May 2^nd 2018. During his arrest, at the time his house was searched, agents seized a number of his personal belongings.

This Baha’i was released on bail on May 27^th 2018 until the end of his trial.

Mr. Noozdahi was sentenced to two years of prison in 1989, and spent two years in Vakil Abad Prison in Mashhad.

Baha’is in Iran have been deprived of freedoms related to religious beliefs. This systematic deprivation is in direct contradiction to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which states that all persons have the right to religious freedom, the right to change their religion or belief, and the freedom to express their belief individually or collectively, in public or private.

Based on unofficial sources, there are over 300,000 Baha’is in Iran. However, Iran’s Constitution only recognizes Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism, and does not recognize the Baha’i Faith as a religion. This has been used by the regime to justify systematic denial of the civil rights of Baha’is for many years.