Source: www.hra-news.org
Translation by Iran Press Watch
HRANA News Agency – Farhang Sahba, a Baha’i citizen held in Isfahan prison, was recently transferred to Isfahan IRGC Intelligence Unit for questioning. His transfer came at a time when his legal process had ended, and the Baha’i citizen is serving his sentence in prison.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists in Iran, Farhang Sahba, a Baha’i citizen held in Isfahan prison, has been transferred to a solitary confinement cell of the IRGC’s Intelligence Unit[i], and is being questioned again.
According to an informed source, since his transfer to the IRGC detention center, in response to inquiries from Mr. Sahba’s family, prison officials have responded with no information about details of his location. His transfer comes after a verdict of up to six years in prison for this Baha’i citizen was upheld in January of this year; his legal proceedings are now over.
His transfer to solitary confinement in the IRGC prison is said to have been accompanied by intense interrogation and psychological pressure.
On January 2019, the Isfahan Province Court of Appeals upheld the sentence by a lower court ruling which convicted nine Baha’i citizens detained in Baharestan, Isfahan, including Farhang Sahba, which condemned them to a total of 48 years.
According to the court’s ruling, Farhang Sahba faces up to five years in prison on charges of “membership in a Baha’i organization with intent to act against national security”, and one year in prison on “propaganda activities against the system through Baha’i propaganda”. He was convicted Under Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code with a severe punishment of up to five years for the charge of “membership in the Baha’i organizations with an intent to act against national security”.
These citizens were detained by security forces in Baharestan, Isfahan, on September 23, 2018, and were transferred to an unknown location. Security forces also searched and confiscated several personal belongings at the time of arrest.
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[i] According to Wikipedia: Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (Persian: سازمان اطلاعات سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی) is an Iranian intelligence agency within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and part of Council for Intelligence Coordination.[1] The Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was established on Khamanei’s initiative in 2009. According to Stratfor, it is as powerful as the Ministry of Intelligence, and possibly even more powerful than the other service. The agency appears to be more active at a domestic level, while at an international level, the Quds Force is the key operational group. The agency also has a wide range of Basij informers.
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