Zahedan: Nine Baha’is Acquitted by Court of Appeals

Source: www.humanrightsiniran.org

Translation by Iran Press Watch

Nine Baha’i citizens who had previously been sentenced to five years in prison in the Zahedan Revolutionary Court were acquitted by the Second Branch of the appeals court.

According to the website Human Rights in Iran, this morning, July 31, Siavash Rahimi, Bahram Rouhani, Farshid Dadvar, Hida Yazdan, Shayan Rahimi, Mehrnoush Ramezanizadeh, Emilia Hakiman and Sholeh Ram, who had 5-year prison sentences and 19-year-old Tabassom Hosseini, who had a one-year sentence, were acquitted by the Zahedan Court of Appeals.

Payam News has written in connection to this: the prior court’s verdict was announced to these Zahedan residents on May 23, 2017. The sentences were rejected by the judge in the Appeals Court, and the Baha’is were acquitted of all charges brought by the security forces.

According to previously published reports, Emilia Hakiman, Farshid Dadvar, and Tabmassom Husseini were arrested by security agents on November 6, 2016. Tabbasom Hosseini was released after 16 days on November 22, 2016, on 70 million tomans (approx $21,000) bail, and Emilia Hakiman and Farshid Dadavar were released on bail on December 12, 2016.

Also, Siavash Rahimi, Bahram Rouhani, Mehrnoush Ramezani and Hida Yazdan were arrested by agents  of the Office of Intelligence on November 26, 2016, and released on bail after 35 days, on December 31, 2016. Shayan Rahimi and Sholeh Ram were arrested by security forces on February 1, 2017, and were released on bail after 20 days.

In recent years, the arrest of Baha’i citizens in different provinces has been common. According to the Islamic Republic, Baha’is have citizenship rights in Iran, but since the revolution Baha’is have been deprived of all citizenship rights in Iran, including educational rights, the right to work in government centers, and others.