Source: ir.voanews.com
Translation by Iran Press Watch
Anisa Fanaian, a Baha’i resident of Semnan, was sentenced to 8 years in prison by Branch 7 of the Court of Appeals in this province.
In the court session presided over by Javad Raeisi on Wednesday, December 4, Ms. Fanaian was sentenced to 7 years in prison for “forming a group with the intent of disrupting national security” and 1 year for “propaganda against the regime.”
According to this report, received by Voice of America, Anisa Fanaian was arrested by the Islamic Republic’s security forces at her home in Semnan in August of last year. In March, she was sentenced to 16 years of imprisonment and other penalties.
Ms. Fanaian had previously been imprisoned for one year in 2012, during which her husband was also serving a 3-year prison sentence. During this time, their children, aged 3 and 7, were cared for by relatives.
One reason cited for her conviction was her involvement in tutoring several Afghan children.
Another reason was her participation in an online memorial service in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, for Ataollah Rezvani, a Baha’i citizen and Anisa Fanaian’s uncle, who was murdered in 2013 in Bandar Abbas.
Since the 1979 Iranian Revolution, Baha’i citizens have faced extensive discrimination, including dismissal from government jobs, confiscation of property, sealing of businesses, denial of education, and the destruction of cemeteries.
The annual report of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom from the past year highlights the Iranian government’s increasing suppression, violence, discrimination, and social stigmatization against Baha’i citizens.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has also expressed concern over intensified pressures on religious minorities in Iran and the Islamic Republic’s campaign of arrests targeting Baha’is.
On November 11, the Baha’i International Community released a report titled “Outsiders: Multidimensional Violence Against Baha’is in the Islamic Republic of Iran,” stating that Iran’s Shia clerics have labeled Baha’is as “impure” since the inception of the Baha’i faith. This justification has led to crimes against humanity in the form of religious oppression throughout Iranian history.
Reports indicate that in some cities, Baha’is’ money, foreign currency, gold, identification documents, and property deeds have been confiscated, and in some homes, their property documents have been seized by security forces.
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