New York, July 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — More than 20 Baha’is in Shiraz, Tehran, Yazd and Bojnourd, have been arrested, jailed or subjected to residence searches and business closures because the starting of July. Last month 44 Baha’is had been arrested, arraigned or imprisoned, suggesting an escalating disaster in the Iranian authorities’s systematic marketing campaign towards the nation’s largest non-Muslim non secular minority, and the Baha’i International Community (BIC) believes that this month’s circumstances now affirm the disaster.
“The Baha’is have experienced continuous persecution for their beliefs over the last 44 years,” mentioned Bani Dugal, the BIC’s Principal Representative to the United Nations. “But the present acceleration is beyond troubling: dozens of Baha’is have been arrested or tried or jailed over the last few weeks and there is no end in sight. The warnings that we have been issuing for many months are now coming to pass. Iran’s government must immediately honor its human rights obligations, and their responsibilities to all Iranians, by ceasing this persecution without delay.”
- In Yazd, on 20 July, it was reported that Mr Nematollah Shadpour, Mr Nima Shadpour and Mr Shafigh Eslami, had been arrested after being summoned to the judicial authorities and brought to an unknown place. The properties and locations of business of the three had been searched and a few private belongings had been confiscated.
- In Shiraz, on 19 July, it was reported that Ms Niloufar Hoseini, Ms Bahiyyeh Manavipour [Moeinipour], Mr Misagh Manavipour, Ms Alhan Hashemi and Ms Hanan Hashemi had been arrested by the safety forces and brought to an unknown place. Agents additionally searched their properties. The sister of Misagh Manavipour was additionally summoned by the authorities.
- In Tehran, on 16 July, Mrs Haleh Gholami was despatched to Evin Prison to serve a two-year jail time period after showing on the Judgment Enforcement Unit of the Evin Prosecutor’s Office. Mrs. Gholami had beforehand been sentenced to 2 years in jail below tazir legislation – on the discretion of the decide – by Branch 28 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court on the costs of “activity against national security of the country”. The sentence had been appealed however upheld by Branch 26 of the Court of Appeal of Tehran Province.
- In Bojnourd, on 13 July, three Baha’is, Mrs Sholeh Shahidi and her two sons Mr Faran Sanaie and Mr Shayan Sanaie had been arrested, and their relations have heard nothing of their whereabouts or scenario for virtually every week. Agents searched the properties of these Baha’is and a few belongings, together with non secular books, laptops and telephones, had been confiscated. A fourth Baha’i’s residence in Bojnourd was additionally searched and non secular books had been seized.
- Six Baha’i-owned companies in Tehran and Karaj had been shut down and sealed by the authorities for no obvious purpose.
- And in latest weeks Baha’is in Arak have been instructed by the authorities that they’re now not permitted to bury their lifeless in the town’s Baha’i cemetery.
The BIC additionally reported final month that some of the Shiraz arrests and sentences – which have condemned 26 folks to a mixed complete of 85 years in jail – would separate kids from their mother and father. Many of the Iranian authorities’s latest assaults have targeted with persistent severity on Baha’resides in Shiraz – together with a number of from the previous month.
“The Baha’i Faith began in Shiraz, with the declaration in 1844 by the Bab, one of the founders of the religion,” mentioned Ms Dugal. “Persecuting Baha’is there strikes at the very heart of Baha’i history and identity: indeed one of the first acts of the Islamic Republic in 1979 was to destroy the historic home of the Bab in Shiraz. The Iranian authorities may be using the significance of Shiraz to send a brutal message to the Baha’i community. But whatever their reasons, in Shiraz and across Iran, the government must stop persecuting Baha’is. History will catch up.”
