HRANA, July 19, 2022. –
Nemat’ullah Shaadepour (نعمت الله شادپور), Nima Shaadepour (نیما شادپور) and Shafiq Eslami (شفیق اسلامی), Bahais living in Yazd, were summoned to a judicial office and arrested on July 19. Their home and business were then searched, and some of their personal effects were seized. It is not known where they are being detained.
Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.
HRANA, May 24, 2022. –
Amin Dhulfaqaari (امین ذوالفقاری) began his prison sentence in Yazd on May 24. Amin Dhulfaqaari (امین ذوالفقاری) was arrested by agents from the Ministry of Intelligence on May 21, 2021 [but the HRANA report says 2020], and released on bail on June 23. He was accused of teaching the Bahai Faith. In July 2021 the Revolutionary Court in Yazd, presided over by Judge Reza Javad Musavi (قاضی رضا جواد موسوی) sentenced him, and three other Bahais, to two years and eight months in prison for membership of anti-regime groups, and to eight months in prison for propaganda against the regime. The Review Court rejected the charge of membership of anti-regime groups and reduced these sentences to eight months.
Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.
HRANA, December 14, 2021. –
Mitrabandi-Amirabaadi-Baaghi (میترا بندی امیرآبادی) and Heyva Yazdaan-Mahdiabaadi (هیوا یزدان مهدی آبادی) were arrested on December 13, and taken to prison in Yazd to begin their 8-month sentences. They were convicted of “propaganda against the regime” because of their Bahai beliefs. They were arrested on May 30. In July 2021 the Revolutionary Court in Yazd, presided over by Judge Reza Javad Musavi (قاضی رضا جواد موسوی) sentenced them to two years and eight months in prison for membership of anti-regime groups, and to eight months in prison for propaganda against the regime. Only the propaganda accusation was upheld by the Provincial Review Court, in November this year.
HRANA, November 8, 2021. –
The Court of Review for Yazd Province has reduced the sentences of Amin Dhulfaqaari (امین ذوالفقاری), Mahbubeh Mithaaqiyaan-Dehqaan (محبوبه میثاقیان دهقان) Mitra Bandi-Amirabaadi-Baaghi (میترا بندی امیرآبادی) and Heyva Yazdaan-Mahdiabaadi-Bahifar (هیوا یزدان مهدی آبادی) to eight months. In July 2021 the Revolutionary Court in Yazd, presided over by Judge Reza Javad Musavi (قاضی رضا جواد موسوی) sentenced them to two years and eight months in prison for membership of anti-regime groups, and to eight months in prison for propaganda against the regime. Only the propaganda accusation was upheld. The four cases were initially separate; the common element was only the involvement of the Ministry of Intelligence.
Amin Dhulfaqaari (امین ذوالفقاری) was arrested by agents from the Ministry of Intelligence on May 21 this year, and released on bail on June 23. He was accused of teaching the Bahai Faith. Mahbubeh Mithaaqiyaan-Dehqaan (محبوبه میثاقیان دهقان) was arrested by agents from the Ministry of Intelligence on June 1, and bailed on June 16, 2020. Mitra Bandi-Amirabaadi-Baaghi (میترا بندی امیرآبادی) and Heyva Yazdaan-Mahdiabaadi-Bahifar (هیوا یزدان مهدی آبادی) were arrested on May 30, and released on bail on September 1 after three months of detention. Mrs. Bani-Mahdiabadi and Mrs Yazdaan-Mahdiabaadi had also been arrested in late November, 2017, for teaching music to children. Both were given suspended sentences, which have expired.
Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.
HRANA, October 15, 2021. –
Mo’in Mohammadi (معین محمدی), a Bahai from Yazd, has been told he will serve the remainder of his sentence on parole. He was arrested by agents from the Ministry of Intelligence on January 9, 2019. At the end of March he was sentenced to six years in prison by the Revolutionary Court in Yazd, and was released on bail on April 10. In July, the Review Court for the Province of Yazd reduced his sentence, for “propaganda against the regime” to one year of electronic surveillance by wearing a tracking bracelet. He was required to remain within the city of Yazd and the associated industrial park where he works. The Prosecutor objected to the Review Court’s decision and the case was re-tried in Iran’s Supreme Court, which overturned the Review Court decision and returned the case to the Revolutionary Court where the Judge sentenced him to the maximum penalty for membership of groups opposed to the regime — 31 months and 16 days — but deducted the 12 months he wore an ankle bracelet to give a sentence of 19 months and 16 days. On May 6 this year he was summoned to the punishments implementation office and told he must report to prison within 10 days.
Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.
HRANA, July 2021. –
A Revolutionary Court in Yazd, presided over by Judge Reza Javad Musavi (قاضی رضا جواد موسوی) has sentenced four Bahais to two years and eight months in prison for membership of anti-regime groups, and to eight month in prison for propaganda against the regime. If the sentences are confirmed by the Review Court, they will serve only the longer sentence. The sentence was announced on July 13. The four cases were not initially related, except for the involvement of the Ministry of Intelligence.
Amin Dhulfaqaari (امین ذوالفقاری) was arrested by agents from the Ministry of Intelligence on May 21, and released on bail on June 23. He was accused of teaching the Bahai Faith. Mahbubeh Mithaaqiyaan-Dehqaan (محبوبه میثاقیان دهقان) was arrested by agents from the Ministry of Intelligence on June 1, and bailed on June 16, 2020. Mitra Bandi-Amirabaadi-Baaghi (میترا بندی امیرآبادی) and Heyva Yazdaan-Mahdiabaadi-Bahifar (هیوا یزدان مهدی آبادی) were arrested on My 30, and released on bail on September 1 after three months of detention.
Mrs. Bani-Mahdiabadi and Mrs Yazdaan-Mahdiabaadi had also been arrested in late November, 2017, for teaching music to children. The report says that both were given suspended sentences, which have expired, but does not indicate when this occurred.
Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.
HRANA, May 7, 2021. –
On May 6, Mo’in Muhammadi (معین محمدی) was summoned to the punishments implementation office and told he must report to prison within 10 days. He was arrested by agents from the Ministry of Intelligence on January 9, 2019. At the end of March he was sentenced to six years in prison by the Revolutionary Court in Yazd, and was released on bail on April 10. In July, the Review Court for the Province of Yazd reduced his sentence, for “propaganda against the regime” to one year of electronic surveillance by wearing a tracking bracelet. He was required to remain within the city of Yazd and the associated industrial park where he works.
The Prosecutor objected to the Review Court’s decision and the case was re-tried in Iran’s Supreme Court, which overturned the Review Court decision and returned the case to the Revolutionary Court where the Judge sentenced him to the maximum penalty for membership of groups opposed to the regime — 31 months and 16 days — but deducted the 12 months he wore an ankle bracelet to give a sentence of 19 months and 16 days.
Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.
HRANA, April 2021. –
A Revolutionary Court in Yazd has sentenced Mo’in Muhammadi (معین محمدی) to 19 months and 16 days in prison, based on a case file for which he has already been tried, sentenced, had his sentence reduced by the Review Court to electronic monitoring by wearing a tracking bracelet for one year, and has served out that penalty. The trial judge in the resentencing is Amir-Hossein Qarehqaani (قاضی امیرحسین قره قانی).
He was arrested by agents from the Ministry of Intelligence on January 9, 2019. At the end of March he was sentenced to six years in prison by the Revolutionary Court in Yazd, and was released on bail on April 10. In July, the Review Court for the Province of Yazd reduced his sentence, for “propaganda against the regime” to one year of electronic surveillance by wearing a tracking bracelet. He was required to remain within the city of Yazd and the associated industrial park where he works. The Review Court acquitted him of another charge of membership of groups opposed to the regime.
The Prosecutor objected to the Review Court’s decision and the case was re-tried in Iran’s Supreme Court, which overturned the Review Court decision and returned the case to the Revolutionary Court where the Judge has sentenced him to the maximum penalty for membership of groups opposed to the regime — 31 months and 16 days — but has deducted the 12 months he wore an ankle bracelet to give a sentence of 19 months and 16 days. The Revolutionary Court also sentenced him to 7 months and 16 days for propaganda against the regime, but this time is not added to his sentence because the two sentences are concurrent, as usual under Iranian law. Mr. Mohammadi was not aware of the Prosecutor’s objection or the Supreme Court trial, and was therefore not represented or defended. The Supreme Court’s decision has not been formally notified, let alone explained.
Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.
HRANA, October 2020. –
On October 6, security forces in Yazd raided the homes of Kataayun Shahryaari (کتایون شهریاری), Peymaan Ruhi ( پیمان روحی), and Eymaan Rashidi (ایمان رشیدی) and his wife Shabnam Mottahed (شبنم متحد). In one case, they broke the lock to enter and refused to show a warrant. They also searched the home of a neighbour of one of these Bahais, and seized the CCTV camera of another neighbour, without a warrant. After searching the three homes, they seized mobile telephones, laptops, personal computers, bank cards, and photographs and books related to the Bahai Faith, and departed. The children of these families need the electronic devices for their school studies during the pandemic period.
Mr. Eyman Rashidi and his wife have served prison terms for their Bahai beliefs in the past. They were among a large number of Bahais who were arrested on July 31, 2012, as part of a wave of arrests in Isfahan, Shahin Shahr (a city in Isfahan province), Vila Shahr (on the outskirts of Najafabad, also in Isfahan province) and in Yazd. They were released on bail on August 27 that year and tried in Yazd on August 24, 2013. They were charged with propaganda against the regime and acting against national security
through the establishment and membership of the secret organization (the Bahai community). Mr. Rashidi was sentenced to three years in prison and a one year suspended sentence, while his wife received a sentence of two years and one year suspended. These sentences were confirmed in late April, 2014. Both entered prison on March 18, 2015. Mrs. Motahed completed her sentence on January 24, 2017, and Mr. Rashidi was released on February 2, 2018.
Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.
HRANA, September 1, 2020. –
Mitra Bandi-Amirabaadi-Baaghi (میترا بندی امیرآبادی) and Heyva Yazdaan-Mahdiabaadi-Bahifar (هیوا یزدان مهدی آبادی) were released on bail on September 1 after three months of detention. They were arrested on May 30, and detained by the Ministry of Intelligence in Yazd. Their release on bail was delayed by opposition from the investigating judge.
In late November, 2017, Heyva Yazdan-Mahdiabadi was arrested for teaching music to children. She was at first held incommunicado by the Ministry of Intelligence, and then transferred to the central prison in Yazd. She was released on bail on December 25, 2017. The report says that both were previously given suspended sentences, which have expired, but does not indicate when this occurred.
Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.
HRANA, June 23, 2020. –
On June 23, Amin Dhulfaqaari (امین ذوالفقاری), a Bahai from Yazd, was released on bail pending his trial. He was arrested by agents from the Ministry of Intelligence on May 21. He is expected to be charged with teaching the Bahai Faith.
Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.
HRANA, June 21, 2020. –
The Revolutionary Court in Yazd has sentenced Mrs. Fariba Ashtari (فریبا اشتری) to five years in prison on a charge of “membership of groups opposed to the regime of the Islamic Republic,” with a concurrent sentence of one year for “propaganda against the regime and in favour of groups opposing the regime.” The court was headed by Counsellor Muhammad-Reza Dashtipour (مستشار محمدرضا دشتی پور). The ruling was dated June 20 and communicated to Mrs. Ashtari on June 21. This lengthy text says that the organisation of the deviant Bahai sect is not recognized in the Constitution and any Bahai activity at all constitutes a repudiation of the twelver Shiah school of Islam, of the Islamic Republic, and of the coming return of the 12th Imam … (paraphrased). In short, it draws on all the prejudices used to mark the Bahais as the “enemy within,” simply because of their beliefs.
Mrs. Ashtari (فریبا اشتری), an active Bahai and a psychologist, has already served a two-year sentence for her faith, from February 21, 2015 to January 13, 2017. She was arrested again in her home in Yazd on December 2, 2019, and bailed about two month later. During her arrest the agents seized a number of Bahai books, as well as computers and mobile phones. She suffers from a heart condition and had surgery twice in the year before her arrest.
Her husband Nasser Baqeri (ناصر باقری) and her son Fa’iz Baqeri (فایز باقری) have also been imprisoned for their faith in Yazd.
Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.
HRANA, June 16, 2020. –
Naahid Na’imi (ناهید نعیمی), Didaar Ahmadi (دیدار احمدی) and Boshra Mostafavi (بشری مصطفوی), arrested in Rafsanjan on June 7, were freed on bail on June 16. Mahbubeh Mithaqiyaan-Dehqaan (محبوبه میثاقیان دهقان), a Bahai from Yazd who was arrested by agents from the Ministry of Intelligence on June 1, was also bailed on June 16. She is on the left in the photo collage.
Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.
HRANA, June 3, 2020. –
Mahbubeh Mithaqiyaan-Dehqaan (محبوبه میثاقیان دهقان), a Bahai from Yazd, was arrested by agents from the Ministry of Intelligence on June 1. The agents searched her home and seized some of her belongings. It is not known where she is being detained.
Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.
HRANA, June 2, 2020. –
Parvaneh Hosseini (پروانه حسینی) was released from detention on May 31, one day after her arrest, reported with further details here.
Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.
HRANA, May 31, 2020. –
On May 28, security agents searched the home of Mitra Bandi-Amirabaadi-Baaghi (میترا بندی امیرآبادی) in Yazd, and seized some personal effects.
On May 30, they searched the home of Mrs. Heyva Yazdaan-Mahdiabaadi-Bahifar (هیوا یزدان مهدی آبادی) and the home of her father-in-law, in Taft County on the outskirts of the city of Yazd, and seized some personal effects. They arrested her, and also Mrs Bandi-Amirabaadi. It is not known where they are being detained.
In late November, 2017, Heyva Yazdan-Mahdiabadi was arrested for teaching music to children. She was at first held incommunicado by the Ministry of Intelligence, and then transferred to the central prison in Yazd. She was released on December 25, 2017. I have no record that Mitra Bandi-Amirabadi was previously arrested, but this report says that she was, and that both Mrs. Madhiabaadi and Amirabaadi were given suspended sentences which have since expired.
Other members of the Amirabaadi and Mahdiabaadi families have also been arrested and imprisoned in recent years. Among others, Mehraan Bandi Amirabaadi (مهران بندی امیرآبادی) and Mehran Eslami Amirabaadi (مهران اسلامی امیرآبادی) were released in an amnesty for prisoners of conscience to mark the 40th anniversary of the 1979 revolution. They were initially sentenced to 18 months in prison and one year of internal exile, reduced to 12 months in prison by the Review Court for Yazd Province.
Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.
HRANA, May 26, 2020. –
Amin Dhulfaqaari (امین ذوالفقاری), a Bahai from Yazd, was arrested on May 21 and taken to the city’s prison. It is reported that the detention order specified that he would be held for one month, He is expected to be charged with teaching the Bahai Faith.
Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.
HRANA, December 10, 2019. –
Mrs. Rouha Emaani (روحا ایمانی), a Bahai prisoner of conscience serving a nine-month sentence in Kerman prison, was transferred to prison in Yazd on December 9. She was arrested on May 12, 2015, and released on bail on July 1, 2015. She began serving her sentence on September 3, 2019, so she has now served one third of her sentence and is eligible for conditional release. It is possible that this transfer relates to pending release. She was imprisoned in Kerman at her own request, to make it possible for her mother to visit her, but officials have several times threatened her with transfer or exile.
Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.
Iran Press Watch, December 4, 2019. –
Reports indicate damage to a number of tombstones on Bahai graves in Yazd’s Golestan Javid (Bahai cemetery). It appears that stones and blocks were used. Unknown persons have damaged this cemetery several times over the years. The desecration of Bahai graves, and sometimes the total destruction of Bahai cemeteries, by irregular forces is a regular occurrence in Iran. Since the 1979 Revolution, state authorities have also closed Bahai cemeteries and used the sites for development projects, with the purpose of removing visible signs of the existence of a Bahai community.
For a discussion of the long history of symbolic violence directed at graves and bodies of Bahais and others in Iran, see Mehrdad Amanat, Set in Stone: Homeless Corpses and Desecrated Graves in Modern Iran (2012).
Campaign for prisoners of conscience, December 4, 2019. –
Mrs. Fariba Ashtari (فریبا اشتری), a Bahai from Yazd, was arrested in her home on December 2. She has already served a two-year sentence for her faith, beginning on February 21, 2015. She was released on January 13, 2017. An active Bahai, and a psychologist, she is one of 20 Bahais who were arrested in central Iran in August 2012. They were charged with propaganda against the regime and participation in Bahai community activities. Her husband Nasser Baaqeri (ناصر باقری) and her son Fa’iz Baaqeri (فایز باقری) have also been imprisoned for their faith. Fa’iz Baaqeri was 17 years old when he was arrested, along with his father, on February 28, 2015, a week after his mother began her two-year sentence. In November 2018 he was sentenced to three years in prison, and his father to nine months. Mr. Baaqeri began his sentence in late September 2019. So far as I know, Fa’iz Baaqeri is still free on bail, waiting to begin his sentence.
In the latest arrest, five security agents raided Mrs. Ashtari’s home, which they searched. They seized some Bahai books and her mobile phone and computer. Her relatives are concerned for her as she has a heart condition and has recently had two operations, and because there is no news about where she is being detained.
Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.
Iran Wire, October 14, 2019. –
On September 21, Paymaan Damashqi (پیمان دمشقی), a Bahai from Karaj, was sentenced to one year in prison by the Revolutionary Court. The trial, lasting less than 10 minutes, was held on September 19. The trial is reported to have taken place at both the Prosecutor’s office and the revolutionary court, suggesting that the Prosecutor also acted as Judge, which would be highly unusual. A relative said that Mr. Damsashqi did not accept the charge of “propaganda against the regime” and did not know what it was based on. Therefore he has not, thus far, made any comment on it himself. He was initially summoned in writing by the Police in Karaj in February this year. When he went to the Police station, his mobile telephone was confiscated and he was questioned for half an hour. He was told that he had posted an article entitled “Justice” under the pen-name “A certain Bahai”, and the use of this name constituted, indirectly, propaganda for the Bahai Faith. When he asked to see the article attributed to him, the interrogator refused. In April/May this year he was summoned to the Revolutionary Court (the ideological court) to hear the charges against him. During the hearing, the Judge twice asked him in writing [sic] “have you made propaganda for the Bahai Faith” to which he replied, “until now, nobody has asked me about Bahai.” The Judge offered him release on bail of 50 million tumans, but he was not able to pay that amount. Two days later he was released when the business licence of a friend was accepted as bail. Another source told IranWire that Mr. Damashqi had been sentenced because of a question — not an article — that he had posted, but the Judge had not disclosed what this question was. They [undefined] “told him that because he was a Bahai, a question about justice was propaganda against the regime. Mr. Damashqi, who is active in various groups, still cannot recall what question he asked, in which group, that has led to his punishment, but thinks it must have been in comments on a thread.
In recent days, Sima Behrouzi (سیما بهروزی) was sentenced to three months in prison in the Revolutionary Court of Yazd, presided over by Judge Dashtipour (قاضی دشتی‌پور). She was charged with membership of a group opposing the regime. The Judge did not find her guilty of the other charge, of circulating jokes in favour of opposition groups. She was summoned in writing by the Police in Yazd on March 20 this year, and questioned about her membership of Telegram groups. After some time she was summoned to Branch 4 of the Revolutionary Court, and charged with “membership of a group opposed to the regime” and “propaganda in support of a group opposed to the regime.” Bail was set at 250 million tumans, which she could not provide, but she was released on bail two days later. On July 2, 2019, she was summoned to a hearing on August 18 at the Revolutionary Court. The summons specified the charges as “membership of the Bahai community,” and “Bahai propaganda.” The sentence, of three months in prison, was announced in the last week of September.
In recent years, a number of Bahais in Yazd have been sentenced for activities on internet. Shamim Etehaadi (شمیم اتحادی), a Bahai student excluded from tertiary education, was sentenced for filming a Bahai cemetery that had been destroyed by agents from the Ministry of Intelligence. He was charged with propaganda against the regime, membership of Bahai organisations, insulting officials, spreading lies and having satellite receiving equipment. The charges relate to his supposed responsibility for a 4-minute video documenting the destruction of the Bahai cemetery in Yazd, which was shown on the Persian-language television network Manoto. He was sentenced to 3 years and three month in prison [previous report: 3 years], 74 lashes, a two-year ban on leaving Iran, and a fine of 40 million rials (1200 euros; $US 1600). He completed his sentence in June 2016. [The article continues with more examples of the persecution of the Bahais of Yazd for internet crimes].
Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.
HRANA, September 3, 2019. –
Mrs. Rouhaa Emaani (روحا ایمانی), from Kerman, was arrested on September 3, and taken to begin her nine-month prison sentence. Mrs. Emaani was arrested in Yazd during a raid on her home on May 12, 2015, and released on bail on July 1, 2015. She was sentenced by a Revolutionary Court — as is usually the case for Bahais. Revolutionary Courts try ideological offences and have a single cleric for a judge, and no fixed procedures.
Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.
HRANA, July 9, 2019. –
The Review Court for the Province of Yazd has reduced the sentence of Mo’in Muhammadi (معین محمدی) from six years in prison to one year of electronic surveillance by wearing a tracking bracelet. He is required to remain within the city of Yazd and the associated industrial park where he works. He has been acquitted of the charge of membership of groups opposed to the regime. The supervision sentence relates to a charge of propaganda against the regime. He was arrested by agents from the Ministry of Intelligence on January 9, 2019. At the end of March he was sentenced to six years in prison by the Revolutionary Court in Yazd, and was released on bail on April 10.
Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.
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.
Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.
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.
Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.
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.
Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.
HRANA, February 16, 2019. –
Mehraan Bandi Amir-aabaadi (مهران بندی امیرآبادی) and Mehraan Eslaami Amir-aabaadi (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, or those waiting to enter prison with sentences of six months or less. 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 requirements for release , 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.
Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.
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.
Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.
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.
Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.
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.
Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.
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