Source: hra-news.org
Translation by Iran Press Watch
Tuesday, 7 June 2015
HRANA News – Farah Baghi, a Baha’i citizen who has been imprisoned since 10 February 2015, has written a letter to the head of the Intelligence Office in Yazd province regarding the rejection of her parole request by the Intelligence Office. In this letter she offers a glimpse of the suffering imposed on her and her family; you can read the text of this letter which has been provided to HRANA below:
In the name of God
Respected Head of the Intelligence Office of the Province of Yazd
With respects and greetings,
I am Farah Baghi, a Baha’i prisoner in Yazd Prison.
As you are aware, I have been accused of propaganda against the regime and acting against national security. Some of the reasons for these charges are due to some official’s claim that Baha’is practice Baha’i laws, or that their seemly conduct in their everyday interactions with friends and neighbors is considered to be teaching the Baha’i Faith, or they state that Baha’is should not interact with friends and acquaintances and should not help the needy in the community, or work for the betterment of Iranian society, because these acts are spreading the Baha’i Faith. The other charges against me are attending to the everyday affairs of Baha’is, such as wedding ceremonies, divorce, death, and funeral services, and taking care of the needy and the old, or seeing to the spiritual development of children and junior youth, and performing Baha’i religious ceremonies.
According to the International Bill of Human Rights, of which Iran is a signatory, everyone has a right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right includes freedom to express religion or belief, and to perform religious rites and ceremonies, of which Baha’is are deprived in Iran.
In the holy land of Iran, Baha’is have been subjected to many injustices and to the deprivation of their civil rights, including the imprisonment of many Baha’is and the execution of more than 250 Baha’is, deprivation of education in universities, and deprivation of employment in government offices, institutions and agencies, cutting off their retirement salaries, expelling them from government jobs, as well as confiscation of their property, especially in Yazd. At the same time, Baha’is continuously try to be well-wishers of their government and of their country. It should be noted that Baha’is do not interfere in politics; however they are determined to exercise their rights through legal channels.
These injustices have touched my family as well. A sample of these: property belonging to my father and father-in law has been confiscated; my husband and I were expelled from university during the Cultural Revolution of 1981; my children and siblings’ children, who had all been accepted to university in engineering and medical fields were all expelled (seven students); in 1983 my husband was imprisoned for five years in the same prison in which I am currently being held; his case was up in the air ‒ a death sentence was pending against him, but later he was exiled for 10 years to Jahrom prison; currently my brother Fariborz Baghi and I are spending time in this same prison under the above-mentioned charges.
I, an Iranian citizen and a Baha’i, whose goal has been nothing but to serve the community, and who has always been obedient to the political and social laws of the government, consider it my duty to defend my rights. Therefore I have undertaken an effort to pursue parole, which is my right as a prisoner. I wrote a letter to the classified section of the prison regarding my parole request, dated 6/1/2015. They responded two weeks later, indicating that the intelligence office had rejected my request. I have never accepted any of the charges against me nor have I ever done anything that would confirm the charges against me; therefore I request that I be informed of the reasons for the rejection of my parole request by the intelligence office.
Respectfully,
Farah Baghi
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