Baha’i Educator Freed at the End of His 4-Year Sentence

Source: www.bahaicamp.com

Translation by Iran Press Watch

Based on a report by the No to the Harassment of Baha’i Citizens campaign, on Monday November 14, Shahin Negari was released from prison after serving his full four-year term in prison. On 22 May 2011, Ministry of Intelligence officers stormed the homes of dozens of Baha’is affiliated with the Baha’i Institute of Higher Education (BIHE) in Tehran and other cities. On the same day, 16 people, including administrators, professors and students of the Institute were arrested; Shahin Negari was among those arrested. After 40 days in solitary confinement, he was released on bail on 28 June. A few months after his release, Shahin Negari was tried on charges of “acting against national security through membership in the misguided Baha’i sect, and cooperation with BIHE” at Branch 28 of the Tehran Islamic Revolutionary Court, headed by Judge Moghiseh, and was sentenced to four years in prison. His preliminary sentence was upheld by an appeals court. On 13 January 2013, law enforcement officers went to Shahin’s home and arrested him to fulfill his prison sentence. After 24 hours of detention in Evin Prison, he was transferred to Rajai Shahr prison in Karaj. Shahin Negari spent four years in prison because he taught Baha’i students who had been prevented from continuing their education. Shahin has two children, ten and eight years old.