Source: iranwire.com
Kian Sabeti
Translation by Iran Press Watch
The persistent and systematic harassment and pressure by the Iranian government against Baha’i citizens continued in the month of August. Although the number of arrests has decreased in recent weeks, the authorities continue to impose pressure and restrictions on Baha’i citizens through other methods.
In the following report, we will mention some instances of violations of Baha’i citizens’ rights over the past two weeks.
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Confiscation of Baha’i citizens’ property
The “Baha’i International Community” news bulletin announced that two Baha’i citizens named “Saman Khodayari” and “Kourosh Bayati” are at risk of losing their land in Hamedan due to their religious beliefs.
According to this report, a court in Hamedan has opened a legal case against these two Baha’i citizens. The plaintiff, a distant Muslim relative of these two citizens, claims that under Iranian law, only Muslim heirs are entitled to inherit property.
According to the law, non-Muslim relatives are classified as heirs without ownership rights and are deprived of the right to inherit.
Due to the sensitive nature of the case, it has drawn the attention of the Ministry of Intelligence.
It is worth mentioning that according to Article 881 of the country’s “Civil Law,” if a non-Muslim person dies and their heirs include both Muslims and non-Muslims, only the Muslim heirs will inherit, even if the non-Muslim heirs are closer relatives.
The officially recognized religious minorities in the country, i.e., followers of Christian, Zoroastrian, and Jewish faiths, were excluded from the provisions of Article 881 under a judiciary directive issued in November 2022.
This directive emphasizes that followers of the Baha’i faith in Iran are deprived of yet another civil right—the right to inherit.
Issuance of judicial rulings against Baha’i citizens
Issuing judicial rulings and leaving Baha’is in uncertainty regarding the next steps of litigation or enforcement, has been one of the Islamic Republic’s tactics to harass and oppress this religious minority over the past 45 years. In the past two weeks, some Baha’i citizens have been subjected to this method of harassment.
“Shiva Kashani-Nejad” (Samieian) and “Mojgan Samimi,” two Baha’i citizens, were sentenced to prison, a fine, and deprivation of social rights by Judge “Mehdi Rasekhi,” head of Branch 3 of the Revolutionary Court of Rasht.
According to the issued verdict, these two Baha’i citizens were sentenced to two years and one day of imprisonment, a fine of 80 million and 10,000 tomans each, and deprivation of social rights for five years and one day on charges of “educational and promotional activities related to the Baha’i Faith.”
These two Baha’i women were arrested by Rasht’s Intelligence Officials in June-July 2023 and were released after posting bail.
The issued ruling pertains to their arrest in the previous year.
In other news, the acquittal of “Faran Sanaei” and “Shayan Sanaei,” two Baha’i brothers from Bojnord, was issued following a retrial by the Supreme Court.
Previously, in December 2023, the Bojnord Revolutionary Court had sentenced these two Baha’i citizens to two years in prison and a fine of 50 million tomans each for “engaging in deviant educational and promotional activities contrary to or disruptive to the sacred Islamic law.”
The lower court had also sentenced “Sholeh Shahidi,” the mother of these two young Baha’is, to pay a fine of 50 million tomans, which was reduced to 32 million tomans with a discount.
Additionally, ten Baha’i women residing in Isfahan, who had been charged in August 2024 by Branch 18 of the Isfahan Prosecutor’s Office, received a summons on 9 September to respond to the charges on 23 September 2024 at the Isfahan Revolutionary Court.
The charges against these ten citizens include engaging in deviant promotional and educational activities contrary to Islamic law through promoting and teaching Baha’i beliefs.
The names of these ten Baha’i women are: “Neda Badakhsh,” “Arezu Sobhaniyan,” “Yeganeh Rooh-Bakhsh,” “Mojgan Shahrezaie,” “Parastoo Hakim,” “Yeganeh Agahi,” “Bahareh Lotfi,” “Shana Shoghi-Far,” “Negin Khademi,” and “Neda Emadi.”
Continued arrests and imprisonment of Baha’i citizens
Simultaneously with the popular uprising of 2022, systematic pressure on Baha’i citizens by security agencies has increased. Reports indicate that in the past two years, hundreds of Baha’is have been arrested, imprisoned, or prosecuted, and this trend continues.
A number of Baha’i citizens remain in a state of uncertainty, including “Nahid Behroozi” (Foroohari), a resident of Fardis in Karaj. She has been held in detention for more than 45 days without clear charges.
As Behroozi’s health deteriorated in prison, while she was in “Kachooie” prison, she was informed on Thursday, 5 September 2024, that her detention order had been extended for another month.
“Mojgan Salmanzadeh,” another Baha’i who was arrested in recent months, has been held for over 70 days and remains in detention in Urumieh without clear charges. Her detention has been extended until 11 October 2024, and she has received her final defense notice in prison.
Salmanzadeh is a researcher in physiological psychology who had traveled to Maku to refresh after the death of her parents but was arrested after a few days for unclear reasons.
Two young Baha’is from Kerman, “Mesbah Dolat” and “Matin Fahandej,” were arrested by security agents at their workplaces on the 4th and 5th of August 2024, respectively. While Matin Fahandej was released on the 26th of SAugust, Mesbah Dolat remains in temporary detention after more than 40 days.
Separate from the names mentioned above, many other followers of the Baha’i faith are currently serving sentences in Iran’s prisons. Some of the names of imprisoned Baha’is are:
“Fariba Kamalabadi,” “Mahvash Shahriari” (Sabet), “Afif Naeimi,” “Hami Bahadori,” “Keyvan Rahimian,” “Mansour Amini,” “Valiollah Ghadamiyan,” “Ataollah Zafar,” “Payam Vali,” “Saman Ostovar,” “Roya Malakouti,” “Azita Foroughi,” “Nasim Sabeti,” “Kamyar Habibi,” “Ardeshir Fanaian,” and “Sepehr Ziaei.”
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