The following updates were made available to Iran Press Watch on Sunday, May 3, 2009.
As reported by Iran Press Watch (here), Mr. Ali Ehsani was arrested in Semnan on April 6. It is now reported in Persian (http://www.bab.blogfa.com/) that he was released from incarceration on condition of bail for 50 million tumans (equivalent of about $50,000).
On April 27, Mr. Siyamak Iqani and Mrs. Susan Tebyanian-Jabbari were arrested (here) in Semnan and now it is reported that they been released on condition of bail.
Unrelated to Semnan, Mr. Moshfeq Samandari was arrested on April 14 (here) in Babol and his family reports that so far he has not been allowed to meet with them, but permitted to have two telephone conversations with his family (http://www.bab.blogfa.com/).
May 3, 2009 3:47 pm
It almost looks like the government of Iran is using these incarcerations as a source of income!
May 3, 2009 4:33 pm
I think I would rather stay in jail than pay extortion to the people who arrest and imprison me. Where do the Baha’is come up with money like this?
May 3, 2009 7:42 pm
For me it is clear that this is a methodik to bring terror into the house of Bahais and then force them to sell the possessions of their families for the bail, which they will never get back. This correspond with the secret plan to harass and strangle the Bahai Community in Iran, which was uncovered by the United Nations representative. A bail can be asked from someone who possibly would ran away. To ask a bail from persons who present themself when goverment send for them an invitation , is illegal in civilized countries , an abuse of the laws with penalties for the officals who make such decisions.
May 4, 2009 3:17 am
Well, it sounds like extortion to me. I really wonder how these people live with themselves. Where does it say extortion is okay in the Qur’an? Or harassing innocent people for their religion? Or any of the stuff they’re doing there? Are any of these persecutors concerned at all with the reputation of their own religion? Of course, all this was prophesied in the traditions of Islam. You’d think someone would have read them by now and wondered…
May 4, 2009 6:07 am
They are not doing this to you Baha’is only. They are doing it to everyone they take to jail. Jails and cemeteries are so full they’ve turned the universities into cemeteries.
Aya Khamanie and Aya Rafsanjani have so bankrupted the country with their corruption over the past 30 years that their mollahs are now having to raise funds to pay for their own expenses. So these mollahs are back doing what they’ve always done. Extortion, highway robbery, drug trafficking, embezzlement, corruption and bribery.
Just like their Taliban cousins.
Of course it doesn’t help the situation when Aya Khamanie’s prostate cancer is no longer in remission. Many ayas and mollahs have already begun transferring their stolen funds abroad fearing total collapse of the theocracy after Khamanie bites the dust.
Poor man, everyday he gets one day closer to his burial while Iranians get one day closer to their freedom.
Isn’t that heart wrenching ? I feel sorry for him. Prostate cancer, kidney stone and heart murmer. Please keep him in your prayers.
May 4, 2009 12:43 pm
Truly, I do feel sorry for Ayatollah Khamanie and Ayatollah Rafsanjani. To be the agents of a historical oppression that will be remembered forever as an example of faith become tyranny is an ugly fate.
Yet there is time for them to mend their ways, to offer the Iranian people and concerned citizens of the world ,a pathway from this darkness. Release all prisoners of conscience in Evin Prison. Desist from harrassing religious minorities and restore their civil rights.
Is this so much to ask, Excellencies?
May 5, 2009 2:20 am
Good news and bittersweet news, but prayers for all: Bahais, Jews, Christians, Sufis, Zoroastrians, the jailers, the people who order the jailers, the leaders.
We are all children of God. Some day, unity will eclipse the horror of enmity.
May 5, 2009 2:21 am
Oh, and prayers, of course, for Sunni and Shia Muslims, as well. And my Ahmadi friends, too.