Next court date for Iranian Yaran: 22 Khordad [12 June 2010]

Next court date for Iranian Yaran: 22 Khordad [12 June 2010]

(KabarNavard) Some dates always stick to one’s mind, even if you try to forget them. One of these dates, which has been marked lately by a star on the Iranian calendar, making it memorable, is 22 Khordad [the anniversary of the disputed election of 2009]. But the matter is not directly related to the history of that day. Rather, it is the coincidence of an event with this colourful day; the court date for the 7 leaders of the Baha’i community on 22 Khordad [12 June 2010].

Truly, why should this day be selected by those who chose it as the next court date, after the passage of more than 2 years following the arrest of these 7, and the continued uncertainty and unbearable conditions of their stay in Evin Prison?

Fariba Kamalabadi (Ta’efi), Jamal’uddin Khanjani, Behrooz Tavakkoli, Vahid Tizfahm, Saeed Reza’i, Afif Na’imi and Mahvash Shahriari (Sabet) were arrested at dawn on 25 Ordibehesht ’87 [14 May 2008 — actually, Mrs. Shahriari was arrested in Feb 2008] at their homes. The sole reason for their arrest was managing the affairs of the 300,000 Baha’is in Iran. But the allegations that the Iranian Government has attached to them, with no documents to prove the allegations, have no connection with their arrest. The baseless allegations of “propaganda against the regime” , “propaganda against national security” , “spying for foreigners” , “insult against [Islamic] pieties” are among those leveled against them by the Iranian government.

Formerly, on several occasions a date was set to investigate the charges against these people, but each time they were postponed. Until now, three court dates — 22 Dey [12 Dec 2009], 18 Bahman ’88 [7 Jan 2010] and 23 Farvardin ’89 [12 Apr 2010] were held as closed hearings. These hearings were held under the condition that the main solicitor for these 7 — Shirin Ebadi — was not in Iran, and her colleague Abdul Fattah Soltani was not able to attend the hearings. The attendance of two other of the defendants’ lawyers came as a result of their persistent appeals. At all these hearings, the families of these people were not allowed in, and they were carried on as closed hearings.

Now, setting the date for the new hearing to coincide with the anniversary of the 22 Khordad elections sounds strange — a day in which the extreme sensitivity of the Iranian government is to be on display, and, according to the clear statements made by government officials and those of Seda and Sima
[official state-run TV broadcast agency] they are busy setting parameters for this day. It appears that another imaginary scenario is being composed. The question is: why after 2 years of indecision is the date set for 22 Khordad [12-June]?

Translation by Iran Press Watch,
Source: http://khabarnavard.blogspot.com/2010/05/22.html