Source: BahaiNews1
Translation by Iran Press Watch
BahaiNews has reported the 3 January 2017 arrest of Ruhiyyih Zainali, a Baha’i citizen and resident of Kerman.2 On 10 December 2016, security offcers arrested her Baha’i spouse.
This couple have two children, ages 7 and 16.
According to a reliable source, “Mrs Zainali was accused of propaganda against the government and the country’s security. Moreover, during the previous four days, her husband had undergone interrogation, in the Remand Center of the provincial Offce of Information, under the same false allegation.”
Previously, during the arrest of Samir Kholoosi, security offcers treated Mrs Zainali punitively.
During the two weeks prior to her arrest, authorities arrested another fve Baha’is, in the cities of Qazvin, Kerman, Yazd and Bushehr. They are Soheil Keshavarz, Amrollah Khaleghian, Samir Kholoosi, Mahbod Etehadi and Borhan Esmaili.
The Baha’i Faith has the highest number of followers among religious minorities in Iran. The Islamic Republic of Iran does not recognize them offcially and calls them a “misguided” sect.
Following the Iranian revolution, many Baha’is have been arrested and sentenced based on false charges, due entirely to their connection with the Baha’i Faith. Despite these documented abuses, the Iranian authorities continue to deny the fact of their systematic arrest and imprisonment of the Baha’is and claim that they enjoy full rights of citizenship.
FN1: Twice during the previous two days, security offcers summoned Mrs. Zainali.
FN2: The arbitrary abusiveness of Mr. Kholoosi’s arrest and detention are particularly notable: security offcers searched Mr. and Mrs Kholoos’s home for four hours, and throughout his detection the Offce of Information has denied Mr. Kholoosi his prescribed medication, which he requires for a skin condition.
_____
- BahaiNews is an independent non-Baha’i initiative, and is not affiliated with any Baha’i institutions.
- Twice during the previous two days, security officers summoned Mrs. Zainali.
Leave a Reply