Source: www.en-hrana.org
The Fars Province Appeals Court has upheld the sentences against Hassan Salehi, Vahid Dana, and Saeed Abedi, Baha’i citizens. These individuals were each sentenced in the initial court to six years, one month, and seventeen days in prison, fines, and social deprivations.
According to these sentences, which were confirmed by Branch 37 of the Fars Province Appeals Court, each individual is sentenced to six years, one month, and seventeen days in prison, a fine, and deprivation of certain social rights for fifteen years.
On October 16, they were each sentenced by Branch 1 of the Shiraz Revolutionary Court in the initial trial to two years, seven months, and sixteen days in prison for “membership in an illegal and anti-regime sect with the intent to disrupt national security” and three years, six months, and one day in prison for “sectarian propaganda against the Islamic Sharia law,” serving under home arrest with electronic monitoring within a 1,000-meter radius of their residence. Additionally, they were each fined 37,100,000 Tomans and deprived of certain social rights for fifteen years.
Dana and Abedi were arrested by Ministry of Intelligence agents on April 28, 2021, at their homes and were finally released on bail from Adelabad Prison in Shiraz on June 1 of the same year.
Baha’is are subjected to violations of their religious rights, comprising 82% of reports on infringements against religious minorities, according to HRA’s 2023 annual report.
The Baha’i faith is not recognized as a legitimate religion by Iranian authorities, leading to systematic and longstanding violations of the rights of Baha’is in the country. This includes the denial of their fundamental right to practice their religion, which constitutes a clear breach of both Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The United Nations covenant holds that every person has the right to freedom of religion, freedom of converting religion, as well as freedom of expression, individually or collectively; openly or secretly.
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