Source: BahaiNews1
Translation by Iran Press Watch
According to BahaiNews, Samir Kholoosi, a Baha’I resident of Kerman, was arrested and taken to the detention center of the Ministry of Information by security agents on December 30th, 2016 at 2:00 in the afternoon.
Based on a report by BahaINews, a source close to Mr. Kholoosi said: “Agents broke the door, entered the house and raided the home. After conducting a thorough search while ransacking the entire house, they arrested Samir Kholoosi and took him to the detention center.”
According to this source: “The security agents treated Samir Kholoosi with extreme violence. He was beaten and interrogated for 2 hours in his own home before they finally handcuffed him, while also insisting on shackling his ankles, even though this was his first arrest.
The five security agents searched and inspected his personal belongings and confiscated a laptop, phone, hard drives, books and other personal items.
Recently, Amrollah Khaleghian and Fariba Rohani, residents of Kerman, were also arrested. Fariba Rohani was released after few hours of interrogation, but Amrollah Khaleghian has been detained at the Ministry of Information for the past 10 days.
In recent months, more than twenty Baha’is have been arrested and accused of propaganda activities by security agents of the Ministry of Information and have been transferred to the detention center. Some of these Baha’is have been released after their interrogation and posting bail, while a number of others are still in detention after more than two months.
Baha’is are the largest minority in Iran. The Islamic Republic of Iran does not recognize them as a religion, but refers to them as a “misguided sect”. After the Islamic Revolution in Iran, many Baha’is were arrested because of their belief in the Baha’I Faith, and were sentenced to unjust prison terms; however, officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran have always falsely claimed that they have never dealt with Baha’is based solely on the basis of their beliefs, and that all Baha’is enjoy the rights of citizenship in Iran.
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- BahaiNews is an independent non-Baha’i initiative, and is not affiliated with any Baha’i institutions.
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