January to June, 2019
Sufeya Mobini sentenced to 10 years in prison
Iran Press Watch, June 29, 2019. –
Sufeya Mobini (سوفیا مبینی), a Bahai from Tehran, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison by Branch 26 of Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court. Ms. Mobini and Negin Tadrisi (نگین تدریسی) were arrested by agents from the Ministry of Intelligence on October 2017, during the bicentenary celebration of the Birth of Baha’u’llah, the Prophet Founder of the Bahai Faith. She was later released on bail.
An informed source told a HRANA reporter: “During the proceedings, the charges against this Bahai citizen were issued as “formation and administration of an illegal Bahai group with the aim of disrupting national security.” A sentence of 10 years in prison has been decided based on this charge. However, in the sentencing there is reference to Article 499 of the Islamic Penal Code, though in reality, the original text of this article reads: “Anyone who joins, as a member, any of the groups, societies, or branches … shall be sentenced to three months to five years’ imprisonment, unless it is proven that they had been unaware of its aims.” So the maximum penalty for such a charge is five years in prison.” Negin Tadrisi has been sentenced to 5 years in prison under the same article. This sentence was not previously reported on Sen’s Daily.
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Moves to close Bahai home for the elderly in Golshahr
Iran Press Watch, June 29, 2019. –
HRANA News Agency – Officials from the Karaj Office of Public Places, by appearing in one of the Elder Care Centers that belongs to Bahais, have been trying to remove seniors and residents of the area and to seal the location. Giti Charkhi Zarrin (Khollas), a Bahai and Director of the complex, was also summoned to the Alborz Provincial Prosecutor’s Office on Sunday.
According to HRANA, on June 27, 2019, Karaj Provincial Police Officers appeared at one of the Elder Care Centers in Golshahr, Karaj, owned by Bahais and tried to close the business.
It is said that the site, which has been working to care for the elderly and people with disabilities for the past twenty years, while receiving the official approval of the Office of Welfare, has been denied continuation of the service license in recent years because of its officers’ belief in the Bahai Faith.
An informed source told the HRANA Reporter, “For the past year, on several occasions, Office of Public Places administration officials has been trying to close this unit; their effort today to close the home is much more severe than in the past. They were trying to remove the elderly and disabled Bahais from the building and leave them in the street, so they could close the premises, according to the Karaj prosecutor’s office. Eventually, because the disabled elderly and the staff refused to leave, they were temporarily prevented from closing the center.”
Following this action, Giti Charkhi Zarrin (Khollas), a Bahai and Director of the complex, was summoned to the Alborz Provincial Prosecutor’s Office on Sunday.
According to this source, a person who has introduced himself as a parliamentary representative, by coming to this complex, as well as government agencies in Karaj, has been closely following the closure of this nursing home owned by Bahais in the past year.
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Raids on Baha’i businesses and homes in Shahin Shahr
Iran Wire, June 27, 2019. –
Security forces in Isfahan province have launched a fresh campaign of intimidation against the local Bahai community, carrying out raids on the homes and businesses of 11 Bahais in the city of Shahin Shahr between June 9 and June 15.
IranWire has received reports that the agents confiscated religious books and images, as well as personal possessions and business equipment.
According to the informed source who spoke to IranWire, the Bahais targeted in the crackdown have so far been unsuccessful in their efforts to reclaim their seized belongings. Responsible judicial and Intelligence Bureau officials have offered no reasons or explanations for the searches and seizures.
“From Sunday June 9 through Saturday June 15, agents of the Intelligence Bureau and Shahin Shahr police went to the homes of 11 Bahais in the city,” the source said, “and the only thing that they [authorities] showed was a handwritten and illegible piece of paper that they claimed was a warrant from the prosecutor. But the paper lacked a judiciary letterhead, there were no charges specified and only the name of the owner was legible. Two of them were absent from their homes so then the agents searched the other nine homes to find them. There were between five and eight agents at each location and, in searching the homes, they seized whatever they suspected had anything to do with the Bahai Faith.”
According to him, the agents also seized documents, including national ID cards, driver licenses and passports. They also seized personal computers, laptops, flash memory drives, printers, mobile phones, chargers and even packaging boxes for mobile phones.
“After searching one of the homes, they took the owner to his hairdressing shop and, without a warrant, confiscated all the beauty products from a lawful company that this citizen worked as a representative for in Shahin Shahr,” the source said. “They also confiscated work tools belonging to another Bahai who makes a living by bookbinding at home. In another case, they first searched the business of a Baha’i and then took him to his home and searched those premises as well.”
According to this source, when asked about searches and seizures, the agents said that they did not know about them, or replied that the reason would be explained in court. In one case, the agent frankly told the owner of one of the houses raided that the reason was because he was a Bahai.
Mahboubeh Hosseini, Bahram Safaei, Mesbah Karambakhsh, Naeim Haghiri, Peyman Imani, Derakhshandeh Shakibai, Azita Yazdani, Cyrus Golzar and the Afshar family are among the Shahin Shahr Baha’is whose homes were searched. The agents searched the living quarters of two members of the family, who live in the same building one floor apart.
According to latest reports received by IranWire, during the last week of June, Mesbah Karambakhsh was summoned to court to retrieve his ID papers but when he responded to the summons, he was interrogated and was unable to retrieve his papers. In addition, Naeim Haghiri, who worked for an air travel agency, has been suspended from his job under pressure from the Intelligence Ministry.
[On May 1, 2017, authorities closed down 18 Bahai-run businesses in Shahin Shahr, amounting to a majority of the Bahai businesses operating that time. ~ Sen]
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Six Bahais sentenced in Tabriz
HRANA, June 17, 2019. –
Kaambiz Mithaaqi (کامبیز میثاقی), Farzaad Bahaardori ( فرزاد بهادری), Monika Alizaadeh-Aqdasi ( مونیکا علیزاده (اقدسی)), Mrs. Shabnam Issakhaani ( شبنم عیسیخانی), Shahryaar Khodaapenaah (شهریار خداپناه) and Khayrullah Bakhsi (خیرالله بخشی) have each been sentenced to six months in prison, on the charge of “membership in the illegal Bahai organisation.” The organisations of the Bahai community in Iran were all disbanded after the 1979 Revolution – the Bahais in that country have no organisation. The trial took place on June 11 and the sentences were issued on June 15. The Judge in this case was Mr. Hamelbar (قاضی حمل بر). Mr. Khayrullah Bakhsi was also charged with “propaganda against the regime,” but was acquitted on that charge.
These six Bahais were arrested between November 16 and November 20, 2018, and held for one month before being released on bail.
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Kaaviz Nouzdahi acquitted in Mashhad
HRANA, June 5, 2019. –
The Review Court has acquitted Kaaviz Nouzdahi (کاویز نوزدهی), a Bahai from Mashhad, of all the charges against him. He is at present free on bail after being sentenced by a lower court for “membership in an anti-regime organization” (i.e., membership in the Baha’i administration). The Bahai Administration in Iran dissolved itself many years ago, following the 1979 Revolution. His trial in the lower court was quite irregular, with no defence and a court clerk, Mr. Farhikhteh (آقای “فرهیخته), taking the place of the supervising judge, Judge Mansouri ( قاضی منصوری).
Mr. Nuzdehi has previously served a two-year prison sentence, from July 2010 to June 2012, on charges of propaganda against the regime, endangering national security, membership and activity in the Bahai Faith, advocating contact with foreigners after traveling outside the country, participating in illegal organisations, and producing and distributing Bahai CDs and books.
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Councilor in Shiraz sentenced for defending Bahais
Radio Farda, June 2, 2019. –
A member of Shiraz city council in Iran was taken from his home to prison to serve a one-year sentence Sunday June 2, his wife said in a tweet.
Mehdi Haajati (مهدی حاجتی) was first arrested and detained for ten days last September for defending the rights of the Bahai minority, which is severely persecuted by the Islamic Republic, especially the conservative clerics and hardliner security force. He was free on bail.
His wife Zohreh Rastegari said in her tweet that a day earlier they received a text message that he has been sentenced to one year and they took action to enforce the verdict today.
His told the official government news agency IRNA that Mr. Hajati has been transferred to Abdel Abad prison.
His legal trouble started when last year he tweeted, “In the past ten days I have knocked on many doors to get two Bahai friends released from detention, without success. As long as we face foreign enemies, our generation has a duty to reform the judicial and other procedures that endanger social justice”. He was charged with assisting the Bahais.
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Defence lawyer Amir Salar Davudi sentenced to 15 years
Radio Farda, June 1, 2019. –
Amir Salar-Davudi (امیرسالار داوودی), a lawyer who has defended prisoners of conscience including Bahais, has been sentenced to fifteen years on charges of establishing a Telegram channel called “No Retouch” («بدون روتوش»). He was also sentenced to 111 lashes, a fine of six million tumans ($US 1425) and deprivation of all civil rights for two years.
In an earlier report, his lawyer Vahid Farahani said that he faced four charges for running a Telegram app channel for lawyers in Iran, giving interviews to foreign news organizations, propaganda against the regime and insulting officials. This report also includes the charge “forming a group to overthrow the regime,” which may refer to the Telegram channel. Mr. Davudi was found guilty on multiple charges, but under section 134 of the prison code he will serve only the prison term for the most serious offence: establishing a Telegram channel. Telegram is very widely used in Iran, and is not illegal, but authorities blocked it in April, 2018. Users resort to circumvention tools.
Mr. Davudi was arrested on November 20, 2018, by intelligence officers. His arrest, as well as the search of both his office and home, was conducted without a warrant. Some of his work documents were confiscated.
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Injustice and extortion in Semnan’s prison
Iran Wire, June 1, 2019. –
A month has passed since three young Bahais were arrested by teams of four to six masked agents from the Ministry of Intelligence in Semnan, in simultaneous raids on their homes at 8 a.m. on April 30. What little news is available is not good. It appears they are to be charged with “propaganda against the regime” and “undermining national security,” and they have not been allowed to have a lawyer. There are also reports that several other Bahais in Semnan have recently been threatened with arrest.
The family of Ardeshir Fenaa’eyan (اردشیر فناییان), who is 30 years old, have had no news from him: he has not been allowed even a short telephone call. His mother died in an accident a few months ago, and his father is hospitalized due to kidney problems, so his sister and small child have travelled over 300 km, from Gonbad-Kavus, to follow up on his arrest. Thus far the Ministry of Intelligence and judiciary have not given her any information about her brother’s situation. Mr. Fenaa’eyan was previously arrested by the Ministry of Intelligence and held for over 50 days before being freed on bail. A Revolutionary Court sentenced him to nine months in prison [other reports say, 8 months]. He began his sentence in January 2014. Immediately after his release, the Ministry of Intelligence sent him to the army to undertake his military service.
Behnaam Eskandaareyan (بهنام اسکندریان), previously reported as (اسکندریان)Eskandaraani (بهنام اسکندرانی), is 25 years old. Six days after his arrest, in a brief telephone conversation, he told his family that he had been beaten, and asked them to bring two million tumans ($US 475) to the prison. When his family went to the prison, they found that he had been transferred from solitary confinement to the quarantine section, where he was left alone with a hashish addict who beat him up to extort money. The guards, who could hear what was going on and had video surveillance as well, did nothing. When the beating and extortion had been confirmed by the authorities, his family asked for him to be referred to the prison’s medical officer, but the prison authorities said that Behnaam was an adult and could ask himself. However, except for the short telephone call for extortion that they had facilities, Behnaam has been held incommunicado and cannot ask for anything — not even a lawyer.
The third detainee, Yalda Firouzeyaan (یلدا فیروزیان), is 20 years old. She is reported to have been transferred about 10 days ago, from Ministry of Intelligence detention to the general prison for women, where she is held alone. In Semnan, and in some other prisons, Bahai prisoners are kept apart from others because of a widespread superstition in Iran that Bahais are ‘unclean.’ [And I would add: because Bahai prisoners who have been held together with other prisoners of conscience have sometimes demonstrated to their fellow-prisoners that the anti-Bahai propaganda in Iran’s official media is hogwash, to the extent that they have become friends with the Bahais ~ Sen.] After five days in the general prison, she was allowed a telephone call with her family. The family have asked to visit her, but were told that this is not allowed. Her sisters Golrokh and Shidrokh Firuzeyan (شیدرخ و گلرخ فیروزیان), were arrested by the Ministry of Intelligence on March 12, 2013 and February 12, respectively. Ardeshir Fenaa’eyan was arrested at the same time. The sisters were held by the Ministry for 40 days. They were charged with “propaganda against the regime” and initially sentenced to 9 months in prison, reduced to 6 months by the review court. They served their sentences and were released in May 2014. Their father, Hadjbar Firuzeyaan (هژبر فیروزیان), served a 40-day sentence in 2014, charged with libel against an agent of the Ministry of Intelligence. He had complained to the judicial authorities that one of his daughters was beaten in prison. When they took no action, he wrote to the President of the Islamic Republic, describing the beating. He was charged with libel and fined, but refused to pay the fine and was sent to prison instead.
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Hassan Momtaaz Sarvestani receives treatment
HRANA, May 19, 2019. –
Hassan Momtaaz Sarvestani (حسن ممتاز سروستانی), a Bahai prisoner from Shiraz who was transferred to Evin prison in Tehran on February 26 this year, has received an angiograph test at a hospital in Tehran. Although the doctor wanted him to be hospitalized for a stent, he was returned to prison after one day [one the same day?].
Mr. Sarvestani was a teacher of Persian literature for the Bahai Open University (BIHE). He was first arrested in 2011, and was one of ten Bahais associated with the BIHE who were tried in Tehran on March 12, 2013. His sentence was handed down by Judge Maqiseh (قاضی مقیسه) on February 25, 2014, and confirmed by the review court. He began his sentence in 2017, in Adel Abaad prison in Shiraz, and was transferred to Evin prison in Tehran on February 26, 2019.
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Farzaad Rouhaani released on bail in Yazd
HRANA, May 18, 2019. –
Farzaad Rouhaani Manshaadi (فرزاد روحانی منشادی), a Bahai from Yazd whose one-year prison sentence was commuted to a 3-year suspended sentence in July 2018, was re-arrested while taking his son to school on January 28. he was released on bail yesterday, May 17. Bail was set at 700 million tumans (147,000 euros ; $US 164,000). A court sitting to establish the charges against him took place on May 15, but the charges are not known. He was one of those arrested in the course of raids on Bahai homes in Yazd on January 18, 2017, when masked agents seized religious books, flash memory sticks and computers.
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Home search and summons in Isfahan
HRANA, May 8, 2019. –
On May 8, the home of Neyousha Behin-A’in (نیوشا بهین آئین) in Isfahan was searched by members of the security forces, who seized laptops, cell phones and Baha’i books. She was summoned to appear at the offices of the Ministry of Intelligence next week.
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Three Bahais begin their sentences in Shiraz
HRANA, May 8, 2019. –
Mahbub Habibi (محبوب حبیبی), Pejmaan Shahryaari (پژمان شهریاری) and Koroush Rouhaani (کوروش روحانی)reported to Adel Abad Prison in Shiraz on May 7. They were originally given one-year sentences by Judge Mahmud Saadaati (قاضی محمود ساداتی) in the Revolutionary Court. The Review Court reduced this: Mr. Habibi and Mr. Ruhaani have been sentenced to six months in prison, on charges of “propaganda against the regime,” while Mr Shahyaari has been sentenced to three months and one day, on the same charge.
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Seven Bahais in Bushehr sentenced to 3 years in prison
HRANA, May 7, 2019. –
The Revolutionary Court in Bushehr has sentenced seven Bahais to three years in prison. They are Minou Reyaazati (مینو ریاضتی), Asadollah Jaaberi (اسدالله جابری) and his wife Ehteraam Shakhi(احترام شخی), Leqa Faraamarzi (لقا فرامرزی), Emaad Jaaberi (عماد جابری) and Puneh Naashari (پونه ناشری). All seven were arrested in raids on Bahai homes in Bushehr on February 15, 2018 (an earlier report said February 13). Their homes were thoroughly searched, and personal effects such as laptops, books, flash drives, external hard drives, and family photograph albums were seized. Emaad Jaaberi and Puneh Naashari (were released on bail on March 6 and the remaining five on March 13, 2018. Bail was set at 250 million tumans (53,000 euros ; $US 66,000).
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Bahai motorcross champions barred from the sport
HRANA, May 6, 2019. –
On November 18, 2018, security forces in Tehran arrested Shahrzaad Nazifi (شهرزاد نظیفی), a well-known sportswoman and trainer in women’s motorcross, was arrested on November 18, and released on bail 15 days later. Bail was set at 700 million tumans (147,000 euros ; $US 164,000) and was not previously reported on Sen’s Daily. Now, without a trial or a judge’s order, she and the other members of her family — who also participate in motorcross — have been banned from being present at motorcross tracks, participating in competitions, and practicing or teaching motorcross sport. Mrs. Nazifi and her husband Mehrshaad Naraqi (مهرشاد نراقی) and their two children Meraat (مرآت ) and Nora (نورا) have all been motorcross champions in Iran, and the mother and daughter are pioneers of women’s motor sports in Iran. Since her arrest, the premises used for storing the family’s motor bikes and other personal effects have been sealed by the authorities. Meraat Naraqi, who is 30 years old, was barred from national competitions and Olympic trials in December, 2018, and prior to that was barred from competing internationally, although he had championship titles to his credit. Their lawyer’s enquiries to the Sports Federation and government ministries have produced no response, no institution has taken responsibility for the banning order, and Mrs Nazifi has not been summoned for trial in relation to her arrest in November 2018, so all that the family know is that her arrest was initiated by the Minister of Intelligence in Tehran. At the time of her arrest, the agents seized all the family’s awards, titles and prizes, as well as documents related to motorcycle races.
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Afshin Seyyed-Ahmad released
HRANA, May 4, 2019. –
Afshin Seyyed-Ahmad (افشین سیداحمد) was released from Rajai Shahr prison in Karaj at the end of his three-year sentence on May 4. He was arrested on November 7, 2012 and held for interrogation for 30 days, and then released on bail. He was tried and sentenced by Judge Moqiseh ( قاضی مقیسه) in the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, on charges of acting against national security and propaganda against the regime. The Review Court confirmed his 3-year sentence, which he began to serve in June, 2016. He was granted one 8-day furlough during his sentence.
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Three Bahai youth arrested in Semnan
HRANA, April 30, 2019. –
Behnaam Eskandaraani (بهنام اسکندرانی), Yalda Firouzeyaan (یلدا فیروزیان) and Ardeshir Fenaa’eyan (اردشیر فناییان), three young Bahais from Semnan, were arrested by agents from the Ministry of Intelligence on the morning of April 30. The agents also seized some of their personal effects. Mr. Fenaa’eyan was previously sentenced to 8 months in prison. During his time in prison he was obliged to promise that — contrary to a legal provision — he would present himself for military service when he was released from prison. The whereabouts of the three detainees is not known at present.
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Negin Qadameyan, serving a 5-year sentence, allowed furlough
HRANA, April 27, 2019. –
Negin Qedamiaan (نگین قدمیان), who began serving her 5-year sentence for educational crimes in relation to the Bahai Open University (BIHE) on December 16, 2017, was allowed a furlough from Evin Prison from April 22 to April 27. She had lodged several requests for a furlough for medical treatment for gum inflammation and pain in her jaw and teeth. She was arrested, along with many others associated with the Open University, in May, 2011. On March 12, 2013, she and nine other Bahais associated with the Open University were tried. After the trial they were freed on bail or with a pledge, until summoned to begin their sentences.
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Hamid Nasseri bailed in Tehran
HRANA, April 26, 2019. –
Hamid Nasseri ( حمید ناصری), a Bahai from Tehran who was arrested on March 11, was released on bail on April 24. His brother Saeed Nasseri (سعید ناصری), arrested in Tehran on March 11, was released on bail on April 18. The bail for each of the brothers was set at 500 million tumans ( 105,000 euros; $US 119,000 ).
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Ruhiyyeh Narimaan absolved of charges
HRANA, April 21, 2019. –
On April 21, Ruhiyyeh Narimaan (روحیه نریمان) was informed that the charges against her — for which she served five months of a 30-month sentence — have been dismissed by the Court of Review. She is already free, having been provisionally released from prison in Shiraz on March 9, pending a sitting of the Provincial Review Court. Mrs. Narimaan and her husband Farzaad Delaaraam (فرزاد دلارام) were originally sentenced to five years in prison by the notorious Judge Sadati ( قاضی ساداتی), but the Review Court reduced this to two years and six months for Ruhiyyeh Nariman and one year for Faarzaad Delaaraam. They were arrested in Shiraz on October 8, 2018, to begin serving their sentences, so she served five months of her sentence. Her husband was released in early February, benefiting from an amnesty for some prisoners of conscience marking the fortieth anniversary of the 1979 Revolution. Mrs. Nariman’s release is not related to the amnesty, and no reason is given in this report. It is possible that it relates to a January ruling by the Alborz Province Review Court, in the case of Liza Tebyanian Enayati (لیزا تبیانیان ( عنایتی), that teaching the Bahai Faith is not equivalent to “propaganda against the regime” and is not a crime.
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Mohsen Mehrgaani freed in Isfahan
HRANA, April 21, 2019. –
Mohsen Mehrgaani (محسن مهرگانی) was released from Isfahan prison on April 20. This is a conditional early release. He has served one third of his sentence, beginning on January 5, 2019. Alhough his sentence was 20 months, the three months he spent under interrogation and in prison between his arrest on January 24, 2017, and his release on bail in late April or early May, 2017, have been taken into account, giving a total of over six months served.
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Saeed Nasseri bailed in Tehran
Campaign for Prisoners of Conscience, April 19, 2019. –
Saeed Nasseri (سعید ناصری), who was arrested in Tehran on March 11, was released on bail on April 18. Bail was set at 500 million tumans ( 105,000 euros; $US 119,000 ). He was arrested after going to the Evin detention center to inquire about the condition of his brother Hamid (حمید ناصری), arrested on the same day, and of his wife Afsaneh Emami-Nasseri ((افسانه امامی(ناصری), arrested 40 days earlier. She has since been released, also on bail of 500 million tumans, but Hamid Nasseri remains in prison.
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Dhabihullah Ra’ufi begins internal exile; Parvaneh Rahmani acquitted
HRANA, April 15, 2019. –
Dhabihullah Ra’ufi ( ذبیح الله رئوفی ), a 70-year-old Bahai from Sanandaj, has set out from his home to serve his sentence of one year in internal exile in Minab, a town in Hormozgan Province which is 1700 kilometers from his home. He was also sentenced to one year in prison, but after serving just over four months of this sentence he was freed on March 12, under a prison amnesty marking the 40th anniversary of the 1979 revolution in Iran. Last week he received a summons to appear at a court in Minab.
He was charged with “propaganda against the regime,” which apparently related to follow-up actions he took following the destruction of the Bahai cemetery in Sanandaj. His wife Parvaneh Rahmani-Ra’ufi (پروانه رحمانی رئوفی) was also sentenced to one year in prison and one year in exile, but (contrary to my previous report) this sentence was nullified by the Review Court on September 3, 2018.
Mr. Ra’ufi was previously arrested in 2009, and sentenced to 6 months in prison on charges of propaganda against the regime, followed by 6 months in exile in Tuyserkan. He also served his six-month prison term in Tuyserkan. And in June, 2011, the Ministry of Intelligence in Sanandaj conducted mass interrogations of the Bahais there, seeking information on how Sanandaj’s Bahai community is managed. One of those questioned was Dhabihullah Ra’ufi.
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Mo’in Muhammadi bailed in Yazd
HRANA, April 11, 2019. –
Mo’in Muhammadi (معین محمدی), a Bahai living in Yazd, was released on bail on April 10. He was arrested by agents from the Ministry of Intelligence on January 9 this year. At the end of March he was sentenced to six years in prison by the Revolutionary Court in Yazd, and has apparently remained in detention since his trial — presumably because it has taken this long to arrange bail. Bahais sentenced to prison in Iran often wait some years before there is a place for them in prison. Mr. Muhammadi has been involved in environmental issues, but the charges against him have not been specified.
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Sentences reduced for three Bahai men in Shiraz
Voice of America (Persian), April 8, 2019. –
The Provincial Review Court has reduced the one-year sentences of Mahbub Habibi (محبوب حبیبی), Pejman Mehryaari (پژمان شهریاری) and Kurush Ruhaani (کوروش روحانی). Mr. Habibi and Mr. Ruhaani have been sentenced to six months in prison, on charges of “propaganda against the regime,” while Mr Merhyaari has been sentenced to three months and one day, on the same charge. They were informed of the reduced sentences on April 7.
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Six Bahai businesses reopen in Khorramshahr
HRANA, April 6, 2019. –
On November 15, 2018, the businesses of at least six Baha’i citizens of Khorramshahr were sealed by the order of the judicial authorities. In the five months since then, they have been allowed to reopen, one by one. On April 6, the sewing machine shop of Kaambiz Aazaadi (کامبیز آزادی) reopened. In late March and early April the optician’s shops of Hossein-Ali Habibi (حسینعلی حبیبی)and Behnaam Habibi (بهنام حبیبی)and the engine repair shop of Kouroush Jaaberi (کوروش جابری) reopened. The optician’s shops of Behrouz Habibi (بهروز حبیبی), and Bahaador Ahmadi (بهادر احمدی) were apparently allowed to reopen in early January, although this was not reported at the time.
The sealing of businesses was ordered in response to the owners having closed their businesses for a day in observance of a Bahai holy day. By law, as cited in Item B of Article 28 of the Commercial Union Law, citizens are allowed to close their business up to 15 days a year without providing authorities any reason or informing the Association for their industry. However, this legal provision is not extended to cover Bahais, and authorities routinely penalize Bahai business owners for observance of their Holy Days, by sealing their businesses.
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Mo’in Muhammadi sentenced to 6 years, in Yazd
HRANA, March 31, 2019. –
Mo’in Muhammadi (معین محمدی), a Bahai living in Yazd, has been sentenced to six years in prison by the Revolutionary Court in Yazd. He was arrested by agents from the Ministry of Intelligence on January 9 this year. The agents then searched his father’s home and seized a laptop, books and a mobile phone. He has been involved in environmental issues, but the charges against him have not been specified.
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Zhinous Sobhani arrested in Tehran
HRANA, March 31, 2019. –
Zhinous Sobhani ( ژینوس سبحانی ), a Bahai human rights activist who has been arrested and sentenced previously, was arrested at her home in Tehran on March 31. Security agents searched her home and seized a laptop and telephone. The reasons for her arrest and the place of detention is not known. Ms. Sobhani, a former secretary of the Organisation for the Defence of Human Rights, and a member of the Organisation for Mine Clearance, was arrested on January 15, 2000, and bailed on March 11 of that year. She was arrested again in January, 2010. On October 13, 2010 she was sentenced to two years in prison. It is possible that her arrest yesterday was to begin serving her sentence — but the usual procedure is to issue a summons, in person or via the bail agent.
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22 Baha’is began New Year in Prison
Iran Press Watch, March 28, 2019. –
The last month of the Persian year 1397 (corresponding to 2018-2019 in the Gregorian calendar) was an eventful month for Baha’i prisoners. On one hand, some of them were released; on the other hand, trials, indictments, arrests and searches of their homes continued for these citizens in various cities in Iran.
On February 11th, the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, 17 prisoners who had less than a year remaining of their sentences were pardoned and released in Shiraz, Mashhad, Ghaemshahr, Isfahan, Sanandaj and Yazd.
Pouya Tebyaaniaan (پویا تبیانیان), one of the prisoners, was released from prison in Semnan, upon the completion of his seven-year sentence. Shayda Qodousi (شیدا قدوسی), a Baha’i prisoner in Gorgan, who had been sentenced to five years in prison, after serving one-third of her sentence was released on probation in the last days of the Persian year (which ended March 20). Maryam Ghaffaarmanesh (مریم غفارمنش) and Atosa Ahmaada’i (آتسا احمدائی) were also released from Evin prison, after serving respectively 6 months and 45 days of temporary detention.
As reported by Iranwire, on March 11 security agents in Tehran arrested two Baha’i brothers, Hamid Nasseri (حمید ناصری) and Saeed Nasseri (سعید ناصری). Hamid Nasseri was arrested on the street in front of his business, and Saeed after going to the Evin detention center to inquire about the condition of his brother Hamid and of his wife Afsaneh Emami-Nasseri ((افسانه امامی(ناصری). At the time of Saeed’s arrest, 40 days had passed since the arrest of his wife, Afsaneh Emami. She was released on bail in the final days of the year, but Saeed and Hamid Nasseri still remain in detention.
The sentence against Ghazaaleh Baaqeri Taari (غزاله باقری طاری), a Baha’i from Tehran, who was tried in December 2018, was issued in February of this year. She has been sentenced to five years in prison for the crime of “activities against national security because of membership in the Baha’i administration”. She was arrested by agents of the Ministry of Intelligence in September 2017, during a religious gathering at her home, and was released on bail three weeks later.
Kaaviz Nouzdahi (کاویز نوزدهی) is another Baha’i whose sentence was announced in February. A source with knowledge of the case told Iranwire: “The court hearing for Kaaviz Nouzdahi was held in late December 2018 in Branch 4 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Mashhad, presided over by Judge Mansouri ( قاضی منصوری). However on the day of the hearing the judge was not present, and the hearing was conducted by the court counselor, Mr. Farhikhteh (آقای “فرهیخته). The charges against Mr. Nouzdahi were “cooperating with hostile foreign governments” and “membership in an anti-regime organization”. The judge did not permit the defendant’s attorney to be present in court or review the case file. Their excuse was that the attorney named by Mr. Nouzdahi was not on the judiciary’s list of approved attorneys, and the court hearing was conducted without the attorney present. Article 48 of the New Penal Code states that in crimes against domestic or international security as well as organized crime, in the preliminary investigation phase the parties in the case must select their attorney or attorneys from among those approved by the head of the judicial branch.
According to the verdict issued, Kaaviz Nouzdahi was acquitted of the charge of cooperation with foreign governments, and was convicted for the charge of membership in an anti-regime organization (i.e., membership in the Baha’i administration), and sentenced to four years in prison.
Another Baha’i citizen, Neda Mokhtaari (ندا مختاری), was also sentenced to four years in prison by the verdict of Branch 5 of the Revolutionary Court of Mashhad presided over by Judge Mazloumi ( قاضی مظلومی) for the crime of “teaching the Baha’i Faith”.
Twenty two Baha’i citizens began Naw-Ruz (the Persian New Year) 1398 on March 21, 2019, away from their homes and families in Iranian prisons. They were sentenced in Iranian courts to a total of 105 years of imprisonment. The verdicts against these Baha’is were issued based on articles 498, 499 and 500 of the Islamic Penal Code.
Article 498 of the code states: “Any person with any ideology who forms or leads a group, society or sub-group of more than two people, under any name or title, domestically or abroad, with the goal of disrupting national security, who is not considered a combatant, shall be sentenced to prison for two to ten years.”
According to article 499 of this law: “Any person holding a membership in one of the groups, societies or sub-groups mentioned in article 498 shall be sentenced to three months to five years in prison, unless it is proven that they were unaware of its goals.”
Article 500 also states: “Any person engaged in any way in propaganda activities against the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran, or in favor of anti-regime groups and organizations, shall be sentenced to three months to one year in prison.”
The punishment for teaching the Baha’i Faith, membership and activity in this religious community is determined based on these articles of the law.
In Evin prison, four instructors of the Baha’i Institute of Higher Education (BIHE) are currently serving sentences for the crime of teaching youth who were deprived of a university education; Hassan Momtaaz (حسن ممتاز), Peymaan Kooshkbaghi (پیمان کوشکباغی), and Negin Qedamiaan (نگین قدمیان), each with five year prison sentences, and Azita Rafizaadeh (آزیتا رفیع زاده) with a four year prison sentence, are currently in Evin prison. Peyman Kooshkbaghi and his wife Azita Rafizadeh are among the incarcerated married couples who spent the final days of the year away from each other and from their young child.
Adel Naimi (عادل نعیمی) with an 11-year sentence, Farhaad Fahandej (فرهاد فهندژ) with a 10 year sentence, Vaahed Kholousi (واحد خلوصی) with a 5 year sentence, and Afshin Seyyed Ahmad (افشین سید احمد) with a 3 year sentence, are the four Bahai prisoners in Rajai Shahr prison in Karaj. Shahnaam Jazbaani (شهنام جذبانی) is the only Baha’i prisoner in Gonbad-e-Kavoos in Golestan province. He has been sentenced to 5 years in prison.
Isfahan, with 13 Baha’i prisoners, has the highest number of Baha’i prisoners in Iran. Nine of these prisoners were transferred to the Isfahan prison from the town of Baharestan. Of the nine, Sepideh Rouhaani (سپیده روحانی), Bahaareh Zaini (بهاره زینی), Fouzjaan Rashidi (فوژان رشیدی), each with a 3 year sentence, are incarcerated in Dowlatabad prison in Isfahan. Anousheh Raeineh (انوش راینه), Afshin Bolbolaan (افشین بلبلان), Milaad Daavardaan (میلاد داوردان), Farhang Sahba (فرهنگ صهبا) and Ali Saani (علی ثانی), each with a six year sentence, and Sahaam Armin (سهام آرمین), with a 3 year sentence, are the other six prisoners from Baharestan who have been transferred to Dastgerd prison in Isfahan to serve their sentences.
In addition, Sohraab Taqipour (سهراب نقی پور), with a 5 year sentence, and Manouchehr Rahmaani (منوچهر رحمانی), Mohsen Mehregani (محسن مهرگانی) and Farzaad Homaayouni (فرزاد همایونی), each with a 20 month sentence, are four Baha’is from Isfahan who began the Persian New Year in that city’s central prison.
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Publication: 175 Years of Persecution
Editorial, March 24, 2019. –
One World publisher has announced a well-documented and gripping account of the persecution of the Babi and Baha’i communities in Iran from its origin to the present time, by my dear friend Fereydun Vahman, Professor Emeritus of Iranian Studies at the University of Copenhagen. From the genocidal pogroms of the Qajar era, to the improved, but precarious situation during the Pahlavi years, and the re-emergence of the severe persecutions since the 1979 revolution in Iran, the Bahai community has been consistently disparaged, as foreign spies, devil-worshippers and enemies of Iran and Islam. The book also shows the resilience of the Baha’i community in the face of hatred and violence. Available as a hard cover and e-book, see https://oneworld-publications.com/175-years-of-persecution-hb.html.
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Sheida Qoddusi granted conditional release in Gorgan
HRANA, March 18, 2019. –
Sheida Qoddusi (شیدا قدوسی), who began her 5-year sentence in Gorgan prison on June 13, 2017, has been granted conditional release after serving one third of that sentence. She was one of 14 Bahais arrested in Gorgan in mid-October, 2012. A number of other Bahais were arrested at the same time elsewhere in Golestan Province. They were tried in their absence by Judge Qanbari (قاضی قنبری). Mrs Qoddusi was initially sentenced to 11 years in prison, reduced to five years by the review court. She has two children. She was granted a ten-day furlough from June 27, 2018.
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Maryam Ghafarmanesh bailed from Evin Prison
HRANA, March 17, 2019. –
Maryam Ghafarmanesh (مریم غفارمنش) was released on bail from Evin Prison on March 17, after six months of detention without trial. She was one of five Bahais arrested at a meeting for environmental education in Karaj on September 16, 2018. About 20 hours after her arrest, Mrs. Ghafarmanesh reported in a telephone conversation that her bail had been set at 300 million tumans (61,000 euros; $US 71,000), but she was not released at that time. She was kept under interrogation and in solitary confinement for two months, in the section of the prison run by the Ministry of Information, and was transferred to the general women’s block on November 14, 2018.
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Afsaaneh Emaami bailed, her husband Sa`id Naaseri arrested, in Tehran
HRANA, March 14, 2018.
Sa`id Naaseri (سعید ناصری) was arrested in Tehran at about 11 a.m. on March 11, after reporting to the Public Prosecutor’s office at Evin Prison. He was allowed a telephone call to tell family that he had been arrested. He had gone to Evin Prison to inquire about his wife, Afsaaneh Emaami (افسانه امامی), who was arrested on February 2, and also about his brother, Hamid Naasseri (حمید ناصری), who had been arrested a few hours previously, on the morning of March 11.
A separate report indicates that Afsaaneh Emaami was released on bail on March 16. Bail was set at 500 million tumans ( 105,000 euros ; $US 120,000 [or one tenth as much, if the bail was actually in Rials]). Curiously, she was not released from the prison gates, where her family had gone to meet her: rather the family were first sent away, and then she was dropped at a metro station. [The authorities presumably sought to prevent the family photograph in front of the prison gates which is almost customary when Bahai prisoners are released. ~Sen]
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Dhabihullah Ra’ufi released in Sanandaj
Campaign for prisoners of conscience, March 13, 2019. –
Dhabihullah Ra’ufi ( ذبیح الله رئوفی ), a 70-year-old Bahai from Sanandaj, was released from prison on March 12. He has served just over four months of a one year sentence, but has been freed under a prison amnesty marking the 40th anniversary of the 1979 revolution in Iran. He was charged with “propaganda against the regime,” and his one-year sentence was to be followed by one year in internal exile in Minab, 1700 kilometers from his home. The sentence apparently related to follow-up actions he took following the destruction of the Bahai cemetery in Sanandaj. His wife Parvaneh Rahmani-Ra’ufi (پروانه رحمانی رئوفی) has also been sentenced to one year in prison and one year in exile, but has not yet begun her sentence (according to my partial information).
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One arrest in Tehran
Campaign for Prisoners of Conscience, March 11, 2019. –
On the morning of March 11, security forces arrested Hamid Naasari (حمید ناصری), a Bahai living in Tehran at his work. It is assumed that he has been taken to Evin Prison.
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Ruhiyyeh Narimaan released in Shiraz: a reason for hope?
HRANA, March 10, 2019, with editorial commentary. –
Ruhiyyeh Narimaan (روحیه نریمان) was provisionally released from prison in Shiraz on March 9. Her sentence has been put in abeyance pending a sitting of the Provincial Review Court. Mrs. Narimaan and her husband Farzaad Delaaraam (فرزاد دلارام) were originally sentenced to five years in prison by the notorious Judge Sadati ( قاضی ساداتی), but the Review Court reduced this to two years and six months for Ruhiyyeh Nariman and one year for Faarzaad Delaaraam. They were arrested in Shiraz on October 8, 2018, to begin serving their sentences, so she has served only five months of her 30-month sentence. Her husband was released in early February, benefiting from an amnesty for some prisoners of conscience marking the fortieth anniversary of the 1979 Revolution.
Mrs. Nariman’s release is not related to the amnesty, and the re-review of a sentence already determined by the Review Court is highly unusual. I speculate — optimistically — that her release relates to a January ruling by the Alborz Province Review Court, in the case of Liza Tebyanian Enayati (لیزا تبیانیان ( عنایتی), that teaching the Bahai Faith is not equivalent to “propaganda against the regime.” Mrs. Enayati was acquitted and released. Part of the verdict issued by Branch 12 of the Alborz Province Review Court, headed by Judge Ali Badri (قاضی علی بدری), states: “The propagation of the Bahaism does not constitute propaganda against the regime. Basically, in the law, belief in Bahai Faith has not been criminalized so as to be able to prosecute or punish anyone under this charge…” Another part of the proceedings states: “Basically religious propagation, which is not considered to be against the system of the Islamic Republic of Iran and its sovereignty, is not considered a crime; [considering it a crime] is contrary to the Constitutional rights of citizenship.”
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Atosa Ahmadaa’i bailed in Tehran
HRANA, March 6, 2019. –
Atosa Ahmadaa’i Rafsanjaani ( آتسا احمدآئی رفسنجانی) was released on bail from Evin Prison in Tehran on March 6. She was arrested in a raid on her home in Tehran on January 20, 2019, has held incommunicado in Evin prison for 38 days before being transferred to a general section of the prison. She was allowed contact with her family on March 2. She has been charged with “gathering and colluding to commit crimes against the security of the country.”
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Puya Tabayaniyan released early in Semnan
HRANA, March 2, 2019. –
Mr. Puya Tabayaniyan (پویا تبیانیان), a Bahai who began as sentence of seven years in the Central Prison of Semnan on December 22, 2012, has been released unexpectedly after six years and two months. While prisoners in Iran generally are granted early release for good behaviour, this provision does not usually apply to Bahais. He was granted prison furlough for a few days, and when he returned to prison on March 2, he was told that he was free to go.
Mr. Tabayaniyan was first arrested on March 8, 2009 and held in solitary confinement for two months, during which he was interrogated by Judge Dowlat-Khah (قاضی دولت خواه). He was sentenced to two years in prison, and was granted a conditional release on April 29, 2010, with a six-month suspended sentence.
Then he was one of four Bahais who were arrested in Semnan on March 12, 2011. He was released on bail on April 3, and re-arrested on June 11. This was apparently for further interrogation, as reports from that time indicate that he released ten days later, on June 21, 2011. He was charged with undermining national security and propaganda against the regime, and sentenced to six and a half years in prison by Judge `Eyn al-Kamaal (قاضی عین الکمال). The six month suspended sentence was added to this.
In January, 2016, another prisoner released from the Central Prison of Semnan reported that Mr. Tabayaniyan was in solitary confinement in the prison. The reason and duration of this are not reported.
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Hassan Momtaaz transferred, from Shiraz to Evin Prison
HRANA, March 1, 2019. –
Hassan Momtaaz Sarvestani (حسن ممتاز سروستانی), serving a five-year sentence in Adel Abaad prison in Shiraz, was transferred to Evin prison in Tehran on February 26. It appears that this is so that he can receive medical treatment outside prison. Mr. Sarvestani was a teacher of Persian literature for the Bahai Open University (BIHE). He was first arrested in 2011, and was one of ten Bahais associated with the BIHE who were tried in Tehran on March 12, 2013. His sentence was handed down by Judge Maqiseh (قاضی مقیسه) on February 25, 2014, and confirmed by the review court. He was arrested to begin serving his sentence in Shiraz on November 15, 2017, although this HRANA report says he actually began his sentence on December 28, 2017.
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Bahai scholar and translator Faruq Izadinia describes his own trial
Iran Press Watch, February 28, 2019. –
The court hearing for the charges against Faruq Izadinia (فاروق ایزدی نیا ), a scholar, translator and Bahai citizen of Tehran, was held last week in the Revolutionary Court of Tehran. The author, who is again free on bail, describes the process of his prosecution and last week’s court hearing in an open letter which Iran Press Watch has translated. He was arrested when his home was raided at 10.30 a.m. on February 12, 2017. He has also been arrested previously for his religious beliefs, including being among those sentenced to death in the 1980’s, but this sentence was reversed and he was released after a five-year prison term. The full report and his description of his trial is on Iran Press Watch.
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Bahai woman sentenced to five years for celebrating prophet’s birth
HRANA, February 27, 2019. –
Ghazaaleh Baaqeri-Taari (غزاله باقری طاری), a Bahai from Tehran whose 2017 arrest was not previously reported on Sen’s Daily, was informed this week that she has been sentenced to five years in prison. She was arrested on October 21, 2017, during a devotional meeting in her home to commemorate the bicentennial of the birth of Baha’u’llah, the founder of the Bahai religion who was born in Tehran in 1817. The security agents who raided her home and seized Bahai books and other personal effects demanded that all her guests should sign a pledge that they would not participate in Bahai activities. Over three weeks later, she was released on bail of 200 million tumans (41,000 euros ; $US 47,000). Her trial was held in a Revolutionary Court in Tehran on December 18, 2018. She was charged with “acting against national security through membership and administration of Bahai activities.”
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Atosa Ahmadaa’i moved from solitary confinement
HRANA, February 28, 2019. –
Atosa Ahmadaa’i Rafsanjani ( آتسا احمدآئی رفسنجانی), who was arrested in a raid on her home in Tehran on January 20, 2019, has been held incommunicado in Evin prison for 38 days. Today her family had the first news of her: she has been transferred from solitary confinement in a section of Evin Prison run by the Judiciary’s intelligence agency to a general section of the same prison. She has been denied access to her family since the time of her arrest, and Evin prison authorities refused to accept any personal belongings, health, money or clothing for her. Her family have now been told that they will be able to visit her from March 2. Her first name was previously reported on this blog as Atusa (آتوسا). There are no indications yet of the charges or reason for her arrest.
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Four Bahai prisoners released in Mashhad (updated to four), no releases in Tehran
HRANA, February 19, 2019. –
Three Bahai women, Dori Amri (دری امری), Saaqi Fedaa’i (ساقی فدایی) and her mother Mey Khalusi (می خلوصی) have been granted early release from prison in Mashhad. A few hours later, Mr. Shaayaan Tafazoli (شایان تفضلی) was also released. The four were arrested in a raid on a Bahai religious meeting in Saqi Feda’i’s home on June 1, 2014. During the raid some religious books were seized. All four were charged with propaganda against the regime and sentenced to one year in prison by Judge Soltani ( قاضی سلطانی) in February 2018, and the sentenced were confirmed by the Review Court, but they did not begin their sentences until November 1 and (in the case of Shaayaan Tafazolli) November 28, 2018.
Thus far, the amnesty has brought freedom to 36 prisoners of conscience in Iran, but has not yet included any of the many prisoners of conscience held in and around Tehran.
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Fataaneh Nabilzaadeh released in Mashhad
HRANA, February 17, 2019. –
On February 16, Fataaneh Nabilzaadeh (فتانه نبیلزاده), who began her one-year sentence on July 16, 2018, was released from prison in Mashhad under an amnesty for prisoners of conscience with short sentences. She was sentenced for her association with the Bahai University (BIHE), a distance-learning institute that offers education to Bahais, who are excluded from both state and private tertiary institutions under Iran’s form of apartheid. On August 13, 2013, as part of a series of raids on the BIHE across Iran, security forces raided her home, searched it, and arrested her, along with two students who were taking an exam: her son Peyman Saraf (پیمان صراف) and Dayan Teymouri (دایان تیموری). The two students were bailed three weeks later, but Mrs. Nabilzadeh was held for two months before being released on bail. In January 2018 she was sentenced to one year in prison for her educational activities.
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Two Bahai prisoners in Yazd released in amnesty
HRANA, February 16, 2019. –
Mehran Bandi Amirabadi (مهران بندی امیرآبادی) and Mehran Eslami Amirabadi (مهران اسلامی امیرآبادی), who began their one-year sentences February 2 this year, have been released in an amnesty for prisoners of conscience with confirmed sentences of less than one year. The amnesty marks the 40th anniversary of the 1979 revolution that overthrew the Shah. It is said that some 50,000 prisoners of conscience in Iran meet the requirement, which indicates how many prisoners of conscience are being held. These two Bahais were initially sentenced to 18 months in prison and one year of internal exile, but this was reduced to 12 months in prison by the Review Court for Yazd Province. They were among seven Bahais arrested in Yazd in January and February 2017.
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Five Bahais in Shiraz benefit from amnesty
HRANA, February 14, 2019. –
Five Bahais in Shiraz have benefited from amnesties for prisoners of conscience marking February 11, the anniversary of the fall of the Pahlavi Monarchy. Farhad Sarafraz (فرهاد سرافراز), Shahram Mansour ( شهرام منصور), Wahid Dana ( وحید دانا), Sa`id `Aabadi ( سعید عابدی) and Adib Haqqpazhouh were initially sentenced to one year in prison and one year in internal exile, which the Review Court reduced to six months in prison on December 31, 2018. They had not yet begun their sentences (there is a waiting list for places in the sections of Iran’s jails reserved for prisoners of conscience). They have been advised, via their lawyer, that they will not be required to serve their sentences. As previously reported, Farzaad Delaaraam (فرزاد دلارام), who has served four and a half months of his one-year sentence in Shiraz, has been released under the same amnesty.
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Farzaad Delaaraam released in Shiraz
HRANA, February 14, 2019. –
Among a number of prisoners of conscience granted early release in Iran in recent days is Farzaad Delaaraam (فرزاد دلارام), serving a one-year sentence in Shiraz. Mr. Delaaraam and his wife Ruhiyyeh Narimaan (روحیه نریمان) were originally sentenced to five years in prison by the notorious Judge Sadati ( قاضی ساداتی), but the Review Court reduced this to two years and six months for Ruhiyyeh Nariman and one year for Faarzaad Delaaraam. They were arrested in Shiraz on October 8, 2018, to begin serving their sentences, so Mr. Delaaraam has served only four and a half months of his sentence. His early release will be especially welcome since the couple have two children, one being a child, the other a teenager. The early releases of prisoners of conscience in recent days presumably relates to the fortieth anniversary of the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
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One Arrest in Manjil, Gilan Province
HRANA, February 6, 2019. –
Ruya Hossein-zaadeh (رویا حسین زاده) was arrested at her home in Manjil, Gilan Province, on February 2, and taken to the Laakaan Prison in Rasht. She was released two days later, on bail of 50 million tumans ( 10,500 euros ; $US 12,000).
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Mehdi Haajati resumes his seat on Shiraz city council
HRANA, February 3, 2019.
Mehdi Haajati (مهدی حاجتی) a Shiraz city Councillor, who made efforts on behalf of unfairly arrested Bahais and was himself arrested and — once bailed ten days later — banned from his seat on the city council, has now been allowed to resume his seat. The Councillor made efforts for the release of Navid Bazmaandegaan and Bahaareh Qaaderi, and was arrested by the Ministry of Intelligence on September 27, 2018, and accused of defending the “false Bahai Faith.” He had twittered that “our generation has a duty to reform the judicial and other procedures that endanger social justice.” The Public Prosecutor’s office then issued an indefinite ban on his attending meetings of the Council. This ban has now been overturned. On resuming his seat, he said that the case against him would continue and would be decided by the judiciary (that is, not by the Ministry of Intelligence or the Public Prosecutor’s office). Abdel-Rezaaq Mousavi (عبدالرزاق موسوی), the Head of the Legal Commission and Supreme Supervisory Council of the Provinces [a body I have never heard of ~ Sen] has stated that the ban has been overturned. Curiously, the state-sponsored media in Iran have reported the return of Mr. Haajati to the Council, but without mentioning that he was banned for advocating civil rights for Bahais!
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Muhammad-Reza Teyfouri begins one-year sentence in Isfahan
HRANA, Febraury 4, 2019. –
Muhammad-Reza Teyfouri, known as Kasra Teyfouri (محمدرضا (کسری) طیفوری), began a one-year sentence in Isfahan prison on December 28, 2018. Sen’s Daily has not previously reported his arrest in February 2016, release on bail two weeks later, trial and sentencing. He was initially sentenced to five years in prison by the Revolutionary Court, on a charge of “propaganda against the regime by supporting the Bahai Faith” and copying CDs of Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s 2012 film ‘The Gardener,’ which has information about the Bahai Faith. The Review Court reduced this to a one-year sentence. Mr. Teyfouri’s business is described as a shop for cultural products.
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New arrest in Tehran
HRANA, February 3, 2019. –
Afsaaneh Emaami (افسانه امامی), a Bahai from Tehran, was arrested at her home on the evening of February 2. A source close to Emami said that the agents searched her house thoroughly and confiscated her mobile phone, computer, books, and essays and took her to an undisclosed location.
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Sentenced reduced to 6 months for five Bahais in Shiraz
HRANA, February 2, 2019. –
The Review Court for Fars Province has reduced the sentences of five Bahais, previously sentenced to one year in prison and one year in internal exile, to six months in prison. x
Mr. Farhad Sarafraz (فرهاد سرافراز), Shahram Mansour ( شهرام منصور), Wahid Dana ( وحید دانا), Sa`id Ebadi ( سعید عابدی) and Mr. Adib Haqqpazhouh (ادیب حق پژوه) were charged with propaganda against the regime and in favour of its enemies. They were initially tried in a closed court, in September 2018, and sentenced by the notorious human rights abuser Judge Sayyid Mahmud Sadati (سید محمود ساداتی). Neither the defendants nor their lawyers were informed of that trial. The Review Court sat on December 31, 2018.
Mr. Dana, Mr. Haqqpazhouh, Mr. `Ebadi, and Mrs. Bahiyyeh Ma`navipour (یهیه معنویپور) were arrested in Shiraz on August 5, 2014. Mr. Mansour and Mr. Sarafraz were arrested on September 1. Mrs. Ma`navipour was released on bail on September 18 and Mr. Dana on September 28, 2014. On October 21, Mr. Sarafraz, `Ebadi, Mansour and Haqqpazhouh were released on bail.
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Student expelled for Bahai beliefs in Kashan
HRANA, February 2, 2018. –
Sepehr Shahidi-Qamsari (سپهر شهیدی قمصری), who was in the fifth semester of a degree in civil engineering at the Sina Institute in Kashan, has been expelled because of his Bahai beliefs. On December 18, 2018, he found that his page on the Institute’s site had been closed, and on following up on that, University officials told him that two weeks early inspectors from the Universities of Isfahan and Kashan had come to the Institute wanting to check the “religion” box in his student file, and had determined that he should be expelled because of his Bahai beliefs, without being given any certificate or statement of the grades he had achieved.
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Mehran Bandi Amirabadi summoned to begin sentence in Yazd
HRANA, February 1, 2019. –
On February 1, security agents went to the workplace of Mehran Bandi Amirabadi (مهران بندی امیرآبادی) in Yazd, but did not find him there. He was later informed by telephone that he should present himself to prison to begin his 12-month sentence. Neither he nor his lawyer had been informed that he was due to serve his sentence. Mehran Bandi Amirabadi and Mehran Eslami Amirabadi (مهران اسلامی امیرآبادی), who were initially sentenced to 18 months in prison and one year of internal exile, recently had their sentences reduced to 12 months in prison by the Review Court for Yazd Province. They were among seven Bahais arrested in Yazd in January and February 2017.
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Soroush Agaahi released on bail pending trial
HRANA, January 31, 2019. –
Soroush Agaahi (سروش آگاهی) was released on bail from Tehran’s Evin Prison on January 31. Mr. Agaahi was arrested in Andisheh, near Tehran, on November 28. Neda Shabaani (ندا شبانی (بیوک آقایی)) was arrested at the same time, and was also bailed on November 28.
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Neda Shabaani bailed in Andisheh
HRANA, January 28, 2019. –
Neda Shabaani who was arrested in Andisheh, a “new city” development near Tehran and Karaj, on November 28, has been freed on bail of 300 million tumans (62,000 euros ; $US 71,000). Soroush Aagaahi (سروش آگاهی), who was arrested on the same day, is still being detained.
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Farzaad Rouhaani Manshaadi arrested in Yazd
HRANA, January 28, 2019. –
Farzaad Rouhaani Manshaadi (فرزاد روحانی منشادی), a Bahai from Yazd whose one-year sentence was commuted to a 3-year suspended sentence in July 2018, was arrested while taking his son to school on January 28. The arresting agents also searched his house, without a search warrant, and seized some personal effects. He was one of those arrested in the course of raids on Bahai homes in Yazd on January 18, 2017, when masked agents seized religious books, flash memory sticks and computers.
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Kimia Mostafavi and Kiaana Rezvaani released on bail
Campaign for Prisoners of Conscience, January 24, 2019. –
Kimia Mostafavi ( کیمیا مصطفوی) and Kiaana Rezvaani ( کیانا رضوانی) who were arrested in Kerman on Saturday, January 19, have been released on bail.
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Qaemshahr: sentence of Sohayl Haqqdous reduced to 4 months
Campaign for prisoners of conscience, January 23, 2019. –
The Review Court has reduced the sentence of Sohayl Haqqdoust (سهیل حق دوست) to four months. Mr. Haqqdoust, a Bahai from Qaemshahr xx was originally sentenced to 12 months in prison. He was arrested on July 25, 2017, for “media reports about the closure of his business.” The agents were accompanied by officials known as the Ansar Hosseini (انصار حسینی), charged with religious affairs in the Province of Mazandaran. Mr Haqqdoust was released on bail on July 29, 2017. His lawyer, Amir Saalaar Daavudi ( امیر سالار داوودی) has been under interrogation in Evin Prison for the past two months.
In April, 2016, 15 Bahai-run businesses in Qaemshahr were shut down by the authorities because they were closed for the Bahai holy day of the first day of Ridvan. One of these businesses was an optician’s shop belonging to Mr. Haqqdoust. On the morning of November 8, 2016, he was one of five Bahais from Qaemshahr who were arrested at the Mazandaran Provincial Governor’s Office, where Bahais had gathered to seek interaction with public officials regarding the closure of Bahai businesses.
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New arrest in Tehran
HRANA, January 20, 2019. –
On January 20, a team of eight agents from the Ministry of Intelligence, including one woman, raided the home of Atusa Ahmadaa’i Khorrami (آتوسا احمدآئی (خرمی)) in Tehran, where they seized laptops, books and religious items before taking her away. The agents did not tell her family where they were taking her, but said “we will be in touch.” They said she was suspected of activities against national security. Mrs. Ahmadaa’i and her family are at present caring for her elderly father, who has suffered a stroke.
Update: she was taken to Evin Prison in Tehran.
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Three Bahai men in Shiraz sentenced
HRANA, January 21, 2019. –
The Revolutionary Court in Shiraz announced one-year sentences for Mahbub Habibi (محبوب حبیبی), Pejman Mehryaari (پژمان شهریاری) and Kurush Ruhaani (کوروش روحانی), on charges of “propaganda against the regime.” They are at present free on bail. They were among six Bahais arrested at a meeting in a private garden (belonging to Kurush Ruhaani) on August 16, 2018. Another six Bahais were arrested in Shiraz three weeks earlier, on September 15.
The sentencing judge was Judge Mahmud Saadaati (قاضی محمود ساداتی), who in 2016 gave a five-year sentence to Yekta Fahandezh-Sa`adi (یکتا فهندژسعدی), and in October 2017 gave five year sentences to Ruhiyyeh Nariman (روحیه نریمان) and her husband Farzad Delaram (فرزاد دلارام), and in September 2018 gave five Bahais sentences of one year in prison and one year in exile, on charges of propaganda against the regime and in favour of its enemies. The Revolutionary Courts in Iran are responsible for charges such as blasphemy, espionage, terrorism and seeking to overthrow the government. The trials are not public, there is no jury, and a single judge decides the case. Sentences are however reviewed by the Provincial Review Court.
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Two arrests in Kerman
HRANA (Facebook), January 20, 2019. –
Two Bahai women, Kimia Mostafavi ( کیمیا مصطفوی) and Kiaana Rezvaani ( کیانا رضوانی) from Kerman, were arrested on Saturday, January 19, by security forces. No information is available on their fate and whereabouts. Kiaana Rezvaani had been excluded from tertiary education because of her religious beliefs. After participating in the National University Entrance Exam, her file was marked “file incomplete” on the National Organization for Educational Testing website. This tag is used to prevent Bahais enrolling in colleges and universities.
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Sentences reduced for two Bahais in Yazd
Iran Press Watch, January 17, 2018. –
Mehran Bandi Amirabadi (مهران بندی امیرآبادی) and Mehran Eslami Amirabadi (مهران اسلامی امیرآبادی), both sentenced to 18 months in prison and one year of internal exile, have had their sentences reduced to 12 months in prison by the Review Court for Yazd Province. They had in fact begun their 18-month sentences, in August 2018, but were released when the legality of their sentences was questioned.
A source close to the accused said: “Considering the fact that the maximum sentence for the charge of “propaganda against the Regime” is one year, these citizens had previously been sentenced to one and a half times that, meaning eighteen months in prison, owing to the fact that the charge had been made more than once. In addition to this, one year of internal exile to the cities of Divandarreh and Saravan had been added to their sentences as supplementary punishment. Since the prior charge had been made in August of 2012 and it has been subjected to the statute of limitation, according to Article 137 of the Islamic Penal Code, the law of a repeated offence should not be applicable. Consequently, after an appeal to the Supreme Court and the transfer of the case to an equal branch, the verdict was reduced to one year of prison for each of these citizens. The supplementary punishment internal exile was also overturned.”
They were among seven Bahais arrested in Yazd in January and February 2017: one was exonerated and three were given suspended sentences, while Sorur Forughi Mahdiabadi (سرور فروغی مهدی آبادی) was released on bail in March 2017, and I have no further information on her case.
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Mariya Kothari acquitted by Review Court
HRANA, January 13, 2019. –
The Review Court for Kurdistan Province has acquitted Dr. Mariya Kothari (ماریا کوثری), a Bahai from Qorveh, who had been sentenced to one year in prison, a fine of five million [tumans], and two years in internal exile in the town of Torbat Heydarieh. Mrs. Kothari was accused of teaching the Bahai Faith. The court said that there was no evidence to justify the accusation. Dr, Kothari was arrested by agents from the Ministry of Intelligence on October 4, 2016. She has been free on bail since October 18, 2016. After her arrest in Qorveh she was taken to the Ministry of Intelligence detention facilities first in Qorveh and then in Sanandaj. Mrs. Kothari’s husband and son do not have Iranian nationality and have been required to leave Iran. Her husband lives in Ecuador and her son in Australia.
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Bahai-run business closed down in Birjand
Iran Press Watch, January 15, 2019. –
On the morning of Saturday, January 5, 2019, the business of Farshid Dimi (فرشید دیمی), a Bahai from Birjand, was sealed by order of judiciary officials. A source close to Mr. Dimi told HRANA, “Farshid Dimi’s store, where he sells computer accessories, has been in business for 20 years. Mr. Dimi’s business license renewal was denied by by authorities, who provided no specific reason. Mr. Dimi has paid his union dues [i.e., to the government-mandated industrial sector organisation] and his taxes throughout his years of operation. His business has been sealed by order of the judicial officials, and so far the only response from that body has been that the order has been issued by the high officials and nothing can be done by us.”
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Three Bahai students expelled at end of semester
HRANA, January 10, 2019. –
On January 9, Badi Safaajou (بدیع صفاجو), a Bahai from Karaj who was in his seventh semester of a degree in chemical engineering at the Azad University, was expelled because of his Bahai beliefs. He was called out while sitting one of the term examinations and told of his expulsion. The head of his department told him this was because he was a Bahai. He had achieved an average grade of 19.7.
In a separate report, HRANA notes the expulsion of Shirin Beninezhaad (شیرین بنی نژاد), who was in the fifth semester of a course in applied computer science at the Sama College branch of the Azad University, in Andisheh New Town (between Karaj and Tehran). On January 9, she was summoned to the University and told that she had been expelled one month earlier. At that point she had completed the classes for the course and one of the examinations. She had another three examinations to sit in order to complete her degree. The head of the College told her and her family that they (the University authorities) had no role in her expulsion, and she should take any questions to the Ministry of Intelligence.
Shaayaan Ma`navi (شایان معنوی), a Bahai student in the third semester of a degree in civil engineering at the Qods City campus of the Azad University was also expelled recently. On December 17, 2018, he found his access to the University web site was blocked, and on January 10, after numerous enquiries, he was told he had been expelled because of his Bahai beliefs.
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Interrogation of 32 Baha’is by Ministry of Intelligence in Karaj
Iran Press Watch, January 12, 2019. –
During last two weeks, at least 32 Bahais have been were summoned and interrogated by the Ministry of Intelligence in Karaj. They were attending a lecture by another Bahai, Mehrdad Heyrani (مهرداد حیرانی) who was visiting from Tehran. His presentation was interrupted when he was interrogated in class by security forces. An earlier report said that this gathering, on May 11, 2018, was at Baghestan or Fardis, both smaller towns near Karaj. He was released on August 11, 2018.
HRANA obtained the names of these people: Saied Vojdani, Tahereh Pashaie, Radm’an Forughi, Sheida Motlaq, Traneh Badie, Sepeher Furuhari, Masood Zakerian, Badiullah Tashakor, Farinaz Khoshfetrat, Tarannom Hashemi, Kambiz Safaie, Sarmad Sadeghian, Nahid Farhangi, Hasti Mandegari, Nasim Zabihi, Ruhhiyeh Anvari, Shoeleh Emamverdi, Shirin Khollas, Furutan Bayai, Armin Rowhani, Aydin Rowhani, Nazanin Sharifi, Nima Sharifi, Ramtin Monzavi, Parnian Badie, Mahsan Mokhtari, Arman Poormoradian, Mahmood Feshami, Samieh Ehsani, Pooya Eslami, Delkash Bebahani.
[سعید وجدانی، طاهره پاشائی، رادمان فروغی، شیدا مطلق، ترانه بدیعی، سپهر فروهری، مسعود ذاکریان، بدیع الله تشکر، پروین تشکر، فریناز خوش فطرت، ترنم هاشمی، کامبیز صفائی، سرمد صادقیان، ناهید فرهنگی، هستی ماندگاری، نسیم ذبیحی، روحیه انوری، شعله اماموردی، شیرین خلص، فروتن بیانی، آرمین روحانی، آیدین روحانی، نازنین شریفی، نیما شریفی، رامتین منزوی، پرنیان بدیعی ، مهسان مختاری، آرمان پورمرادیان، محمود فشامی، سمیعه احسانی، پویا اسلامی، دلکش بهبهانی]
A close source to these Bahais confirmed the above news and informed the HRANA reporter: “ When the security forces came to arrest Mehrdad Heyrani, all these citizens were attending his class. In addition, they were subsequently interrogated, and their mobile phones were confiscated.”
Since December 23, 2018, every week on Monday and Tuesday these individuals have been summoned and interrogated in the Office of the Ministry of Intelligence in Karaj.”
The same source continued: “Security agents, after completing their interrogation, returned the mobile phones and informed them that the finalised report of their individual cases would be sent to the judiciary.
Mehrdad Heyrani now resides in Tehran; on 11 May 2018 he was arrested by security forces and imprisoned in Evin Prison. After spending three months of incarceration, on 11 August 2018, he was freed on bail of approximately US $15,000.00.
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Provincial review court rules “teaching the Bahai Faith” is not a crime
Iran Press Watch, January 13, 2019. –
Branch 12 of the Alborz Province Review Court has dismissed the charges brought against Liza Tebyanian Enayati (لیزا تبیانیان ( عنایتی). The court found that teaching the Bahai Faith is not equivalent to “propaganda against the regime.” [Some hundreds of Iran’s Bahai population have served many years in prison on the suppositions that having a Bahai book or image in one’s home is equivalent to propaganda against the regime. ~ Sen] Ms. Tebyanian,
a Bahai resident of Karaj in Alborz Province, was arrested by security officers on March 16, 2017. Six security officers entered her home with a warrant, and after searching it and confiscating her personal property, including religious and non-religious books; laptops and so forth, arrested her. In August 2018, a lower court sentenced her to 7 months imprisonment for propaganda against the regime. Her sentencing was not previously reported on Sen’s Daily.
Part of the verdict issued by Branch 12 of the Alborz Province Review Court, headed by Judge Ali Badri (قاضی علی بدری), states: “The propagation of the Bahaism does not constitute propaganda against the regime. Basically, in the law, belief in Bahai Faith has not been criminalized so as to be able to prosecute or punish anyone under this charge…”
Another part of the proceedings states: “Basically religious propagation, which is not considered to be against the system of the Islamic Republic of Iran and its sovereignty, is not considered a crime; [considering it a crime] is contrary to the Constitutional rights of citizenship.”
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Bahai student expelled in Shahryar
HRANA, January 7, 2019. –
On January 5, Sama Nazifi (سما نظیفی), a student of architecture at the Shahryar campus of the Azad University, was expelled because of her Bahai beliefs. In the previous year, she had earned a commendation from the University.
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22 Bahai-run businesses to reopen in Urmia, after 18-month struggle
HRANA, January 5, 2019. –
The West Azerbaijan Provincial authorities have given permission for the re-opening to 22 Bahai-run businesses in Urmia (Urumiyyeh), closed by the local authorities 18 months ago. The businesses were closed by local authorities because they closed for business on Bahai Holy Days. There are nine days each year that Bahais take free from work (with logical exceptions). The law in Iran allows any business to shut for up to 15 days each year, without special permission from the authorities, but the Bahais are apparently being denied this normal right, as they are denied many other civil rights. The owners of these businesses pursued numerous channels with various government bodies, but only the local government’s Office of Public Places has responded, saying that they would not be allowed to reopen unless they signed a pledge not to close on the Bahai Holy Days. The owners rejected this as legally invalid and discriminatory. They took a case to the Supreme Administrative Court, which rejected the case without a hearing. The court’s decision was announced on August 16, 2018, one year after the closures. The businesses are largely retail and repair shops
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Four arrests in Isfahan
HRANA, January 5, 2019. –
On January five, security forces arrested four Bahai men in Isfahan. Manuchehr Rahmaani (منوچهر رحمانی), Farzaad Hamaayuni ( فرزاد همایونی) and Sohraab Naqipur (سهراب نقی پور) were arrested early in the morning, and Mohsen Mehrgaani (محسن مهرگانی) some hours later. Their place of detention and the reasons for the arrests are not known.
It is likely that all four were free on bail, due to arrests in 2017. Mr. Mehrgaani and Mr. Rahmaani were previously arrested on January 24, 2017, and I have reported that Mr. Mehrgaani was freed on bail on May 16 that year. Mr. Hamaayuni and Sohraab Naqipur were among five Bahais arrested in Isfahan on March 28, 2017: their release on bail and that of Mr. Rahmaani has not been reported here, but if they had not been bailed their long detention would have been reported.
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`Ali Ahmadi bailed in Qaemshahr
Campaign for Prisoners of Conscience, January 2, 2019. –
Mr. `Ali Ahmadi (علی احمدی), a Bahai from Qaemshahr, was freed on bail on January 2, after posting bail of 150 million tumans (31,000 euros ; $US 35,000). He was arrested on November 20, 2018, by agents who insulting his religious beliefs and calling him “unclean” and “Bahai dog.” They also seized some religious books mobile phone and computer. He is charged with “propaganda against the regime.” This is the fifth time he has been arrested in the past ten years: On the first occasion he was sentenced to 10 months in prison, and on the second occasion he was acquitted. In 2011 he was arrested with two others and charged with participation in Bahai activities.
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Sentences confirmed for eight Bahais from Baharestan
Iran International, January 2, 2019. –
The Review Court for Isfahan Province has confirmed six-year sentences of Afshin Bolbolaan (افشین بلبلان), Sahaam Armin (سهام آرمین), Milaad Daavardaan (میلاد داوردان), Farhaang Sahba (فرهنگ صهبا) and Anush Raayneh (انوش راینه) and four-year sentences for Bahaareh Dhini-Sobhaaniaan (بهاره ذینی صبحانیان), Fuzhaan Rashidi (فوژان رشیدی) and Sepideh Rouhani (سپیده روحانی) have been given four-year sentences. A ninth Bahai sentenced in the same case, `Ali Thani (علی ثانی), received a five year sentence (plus one year concurrently on another charge), but he is not mentioned in this announcement from the Review Court. The nine Bahais were arrested Baharestan, near Isfahan, on September 23rd, 2018, by agents from the Ministry of Intelligence.
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Six Bahais in Sistan and Baluchistan sentenced to 6 months, not 3 years
Radio Farhang, January 1, 2019. –
The court of review for the Province of Sistan and Baluchistan has reduced the 3-year prison sentences for six Bahais to six months each. They were initially charged with acting against national security through membership of an illegal organisation, but this has been changed to “propaganda against the regime.” They are (right to left in the photo): Bahaadar Kaamju (بهادر کامجو) from Chabahar (whose optician’s shop was closed in January 2018, Manouchihr Barqi (منوچهر بارقی) from Chabahar, Fahimeyyeh As-haq Nurabadi (فهیمه اسحاق نور آبادی) from Chabahar, whose name is reported as Fahemiyyeh As-haqi (فهمیه اسحاقی), Bijan Eslami-Mahdiabadi (بیژن اسلامی مهدی آبادی) of Khash, Ali Anvari (علی انوری) from Iranshahr and Houshang Mokhtari (هوشنگ مختاری) from Saravan.
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