Beating and injury of a 75 year-old Baha'i at the Tehran Governor's Office

[gnstv.net, 31 Sharivar 1392]

Harana News – Behzad Shokuhi, a 75 year-old Baha’i citizen, who had initiated a court action in connection with his claim for unpaid funds against the Ministry of Agriculture, was summoned to the office of the Governor of Tehran*, and subjected to beating and injury, as well as verbal abuse.

As stated by Harana reporters, the news organ of Human Rights Activists in Iran, Behzad Shokuhi, a 75-year-old Baha’i old man, who had held the position of Deputy Minister of Agriculture before the revolutionary regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran gained power, like other Baha’i citizens who had government posts, was permanently dismissed (by the new regime), after a record of many years of service .

Thirty-four years following his dismissal from his post, with the inauguration of the new government [of Hassan Rouhani], Behzad Shokuhi had prepared a letter seeking justice, and submitted it to the authorities. Following this action, he was called to the Tehran Governor’s office in Abbas Abad and Mir Emad streets and was subjected to beating and injury.

Someone close to this Baha’i citizen told the Harana reporter: “Behzad Shokuhi was confronted with indecent curses, beating and injury at the Governor’s office and has been warned not to purse the matter any further.”

He continued: “All over his body there are bruises and signs of beating and injury. There was no point in encouraging him to go to the medical examiner’s office and launching a complaint, because apart from being warned about his pursuing the case, he has been looking after his wife who has been afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease for the past few years.”

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Translation by Iran Press Watch
Source: http://gnstv.net/irannews/296-ضرب-و-شتم-یک-شهروند-بهایی-۷۵-ساله

* The new Governor of Tehran, Hossein Hashemi, was inaugurated on 11 September 2013, after being appointed in a cabinet meeting chaired by Iran’s new President, Hassan Rouhani: http://www.tehrantimes.com/politics/110696-hossein-hashemi-inaugurated-as-tehran-governor