Seven Bahá’ís Sentenced in Urumiyyeh

Source: http://www.radiozamaneh.com/158934

Translation by Sen’s Daily: http://wp.me/pNMoJ-226

The revolutionary court in Urumiyyeh, in Iran’s Azerbaijan province, has handed down sentences ranging from six months to six years for seven Bahá’ís. Mr. Fardin A’za’i (Aghsani) and Mrs. Farahnaz Moqadam and Ms. Gisou Sheikh-Hasan-Abadi were sentenced to six years in prison. They were sentenced to one year for teaching the Baha’i Faith and propaganda against the Islamic Republic through hosting regular teaching classes in their homes, teaching minors and attracting Muslims. They were also charged with assembly and collusion in the form of membership of a Bahai Assembly, and having links to the Universal House of Justice (the elected body that heads the international Bahai community), which is based in occupied Palestine. They were sentenced to five years in prison on this second charge. Another four Bahá’ís were sentenced to six months in prison, on charges of propaganda in support of the Baha’i Faith. They are Ms. Neda Farsatipour, Mr Amir Maboudi, Ms. Noushin Mithaqi and Ms. Soheila Aqdasi.

Those sentenced have less than two weeks to prepare an appeal. Only Mr. A’za’i (Aghsani) and his wife Farahnaz Moqadam have thus far had access to a lawyer. The other defendants were given one notification [of their coming trial and a chance to meet a lawyer], but the notification did not reach them, so on the day of their trial they were summoned to the court by telephone, without an opportunity for professional legal assistance.