After being held for almost two years in the notorious Evin Prison without any charges brought against them or permission to meet their lawyers, the trial of the Yaran began in January 2010 and was concluded in June 2010. The trial was held in the 28th branch of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran and was essentially a show trial. Outside observers were not allowed into the courtroom despite it officially being a trial open to the public, but film crews of the regime were dispatched to tape the trial. The Baha’i seven, aware of the role the regime planned for them, refused to participate in some of the hearings.

The fictitious charges brought against the Baha’i leaders are espionage, initiation and expansion of illegal organizations, collecting and transmitting classified information to foreigners in the aim of disrupting national security, holding illegal meetings to plot the actions against the security of the state and spreading corruption on earth. These activities were coordinated with the “usurper regime that is occupying al-Qods” (Israel) and guided by the leadership of the Baha’is, the Universal House of Justice, which is located in Israel.

The seven Baha’is are the members of “Friends of Iran” (Yaran Iran), a national-level coordinating group for the Baha’i community in Iran. Six of the group, Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaie, Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Vahid Tizfahm, have been arrested in their home in Tehran on May 14, 2008. Mahvash Sabet was arrested on March 5, 2008 during a visit to Mashad. All official Baha’i governing bodies were disbanded in Iran in 1983.

Update: Initial reaction of the Baha’i international community:

“If this news proves to be accurate, it represents a deeply shocking outcome to the case of these innocent and harmless people,” said Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Nations.

“We understand that they have been informed of this sentence and that their lawyers are in the process of launching an appeal,” said Ms. Dugal.

Related posts:

1. The 7 Baha’i Leaders Refused to Participate in their Show Trial in Tehran
2. Trial of 7 Baha’i leaders delayed yet again
3. Five More Baha’is Arrested in Iran

Part 1:

Part 2: (Note that it overlaps partially with part 1)

Part 3:

Part 4:

Related posts:

1. Round-up of Updates about the Ongoing Persecution of Baha’is in Iran
2. Iran’s persecution of Bahá’ís is devastating
3. Round-up of updates from Iran: Persecution of Baha’is continues unabated

Announcement from: the implementation committee of the revolutionary work force organization of Iran (Rah-e kargar).

The court hearing of the Yaran, who are taking care of the affairs of the Baha’i community in the absence of the dismantled National Spiritual Assembly of Iran, was convened on Tuesday January 12, 2010 at branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court. This branch had previously charged Roxanna Saberi (Iranian American Journalist) with espionage and had sentenced her to eight years of imprisonment. After being used for propaganda purposes, she was released and allowed to leave Iran. The court’s prosecutor, who is the successor of the investigator, is an agent of the Intelligence Ministry. The Yaran is: Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mrs. Mahvash Sabet, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Mr. Vahid Tizfahm. They have been languishing in jail since May 2008 (Mrs. Mahvash Sabet has been incarcerated since March 2008 – translator).

The Yaran’s court hearing is underway, yet their lawyers have not been given the opportunity to access their files (or meet) with their clients. The charges against them are: “espionage for foreign countries”, “propaganda against the Islamic regime”, “association with Israel”, “assisting in the gathering of classified information and forwarding such information to foreign powers with the aim of undermining the country’s security” and “corruption on earth”. The Tabnak site (a pro Islamic Government site) has described the Yaran as “seven Baha’i terrorists who have been accused of terrorist acts including planning and carrying out the bombing of Hojjatieh Rahpouyan mosque in Shiraz and spying for the occupant regime of Israel”. Tabnak has added, “the arrested individuals have never denied their association with the occupying regime of Israel and the Baha’i headquarters is in Haifa – Israel”.

The ruling court with a previous questionable history, is using a Ministry of Intelligence agent as its prosecutor, and is not allowing the Yaran’s lawyers access to their files. This court is only being convened to broadcast a pre-determined outcome with a specific political and security agenda in mind. The accusations are organized in a way that the verdict could be execution for the Yaran. Under the present atmosphere, faced with fear of annihilation, the Islamic regime is clinging to severe suppression; the outcome of which can cost the lives of the prisoners.

Needless to say, it’s clear that the fabricated charges are the work of the intelligence and security organizations of the Islamic regime. The Baha’is only crime is their belief in a different religion. The Baha’i community of Iran, from its inception over 150 years ago, has been inflicted with the worst manner of tyranny and repression in the hands of prejudiced shia Muslims; whether at the time of the Ghajar dynasty when the Babis (forerunner of Baha’is) and the Baha’is had burning candles placed in their carved flesh while forced to walk in alleys and streets, or in the current Islamic Republic Regime, in which so many of the followers of the Baha’i Faith have been executed, that this religion can befittingly be called the “religion of martyrs”. Hatred and revulsion against Baha’is, combined with the harshest forms of suppression during different governments of the Islamic regime, has taken a more ruthless dimension now that power is in the hands of Mesbah Yazdi [1] and Hojjatieh Society’s [2] followers.

Our organization strongly condemns the suppression of the Baha’i community on groundless charges and considers it a harsh subjugation of those that think differently and believe in a different religion. The suppressive policy has not been limited to the Baha’is but has also been inflicted on Sunni Muslims. Freedom to believe in any religion or no religion is one of the basic principles of democracy.
Our organization strongly condemns the efforts of the Islamic revolutionary courts in sentencing Baha’is and other political prisoners to jail terms or execution to soothe their shameless hatred. We urge all freedom fighters, defenders of equality, human rights organizations and foundations to wholeheartedly object Islamic regime’s merciless and suppressive policy.

Down with the Islamic Republic of Iran,
Long live freedom, long live socialism.

The implementation committee of Revolutionary Workforce Organization of Iran

[1] Mesbah Yazdi is a hardline Iranian cleric and politician who is widely seen as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s spiritual advisor. He is also a member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts, the body responsible for choosing the Supreme Leader, where he heads a minority ultraconservative faction. He has been called “the most conservative” and the most “powerful” and “influential … clerical oligarch” in Iran’s leading center of religious learning, the city of Qom. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad-Taqi_Mesbah-Yazdi]

[2] Hojjatieh Society — is a semi-clandestine traditionalist Shia organization founded in Iran in 1953 by Shaikh Mahmoud Halabi (a Tehrani mullah from Mashhad; 1900-1998) with permission of Ayatollah Seyyed Hossein Borujerdi. The organization was founded on the premise that the most immediate threat to Islam was the Bahá’í religion, which they viewed as a heresy that must be eliminated. In March to June 1955, the Ramadan period that year, a widespread systematic program was under taken cooperatively by the government and the clergy. During the period they destroyed the national Bahá’í Center in Tehran, confiscated properties and made it illegal for a time to be Bahá’í (punishable by 2 to 10 year prison term.) Founder of SAVAK, Teymur Bakhtiar, took a pick-ax to a Bahá’í building himself at the time.

Halabi is said to have worked with SAVAK security agency under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, offering his full cooperation in fighting “other heathen forces, including the Communists.” By doing so he was given freedom to recruit members and raise funds, and by 1977 Hojjatieh is said to have had 12,000 members. However, since the Shah’s regime, in Halabi’s view, allowed the Baha’is too much freedom, he then supported Khomeini’s movement to overthrow the Shah. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hojjatieh]

Related posts:

1. Iran’s persecution of Bahá’ís is devastating
2. Long List of Charges against the Seven Baha’is as their Trial Commences
3. Trial of 7 Baha’i leaders delayed yet again

For the first time, the allegations against the seven were revealed, and they are: espionage, initiation and expansion of illegal organizations, collecting and transmitting classified information to foreigners in the aim of disrupting national security, holding illegal meetings to plot the actions against the security of the state and spreading corruption on earth. These activities were coordinated with the “usurper regime that is occupying al-Qods” (Israel) and guided by the leadership of the Baha’is, the Universal House of Justice, which is located in Israel. The charges of spreading corruption on earth (Mofsed fel-Arz) carries the death penalty.

In a clear indication that this is not a fair trial, but a show trial intended to intimidate and scapegoat the Baha’i community, no observers were allowed to enter the court, but film crews for the regime were able to enter the court. In addition, the lawyers for the defense were barely allowed to enter the court, after having little to no access to their clients since their arrest in May and March of 2008.

Diane Ala’i, the representative of the Baha’i International Community to the UN stated that “In any event, all of these accounts point to a trial that is highly irregular, very similar to the show trials that have been held in Iran in recent months.”

The seven are a members of the “Friends in Iran” (Yaran Iran), the unofficial leadership group of the Baha’is in Iran. They are Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mrs. Mahvash Sabet, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Mr. Vahid Tizfahm. All official Baha’i governing bodies were disbanded in Iran in 1983. The indictment against the seven stated again that all Baha’i activities are illegal and prohibited in Iran.

Related posts:

1. The 7 Baha’i Leaders Refused to Participate in their Show Trial in Tehran
2. Iran Sentences Baha’i Leaders to 20 Years in Prison
3. Trial of 7 Baha’i leaders delayed yet again

The Baha’i World Community flatly denied those charges. Diane Ala’i, the Community’s Representitive to the UN told the AFP that “without doubt, these are baseless fabrications devised by the government to further create an atmosphere of prejudice and hatred against the Iranian Baha’i community.”

According to a BBC Farsi report, the nine Bahai’s who were arrested on January 3, 2010 are: Babak Mobasher, Lava Khanjani-Mobasher, Negar Sabet, Jhinoos Sobhani, Artin Ghazanfari, Nasim Biglari, Sa’id Rowhani, Mehran Rowhani, and Payam Fanaian.

Related posts:

1. Nine Baha’is Were Arrested in Tehran Today
2. Serious Charges Emerge against Recently Detained Baha’is in Iran
3. Trial of 7 Baha’i leaders delayed yet again

Several homes of Baha’is were searched across Iran. On September 27, the house of Sohail Rouhani was searched in Yazd by security forces. They confiscated his computer, cell phone and CDs. On October 17, security forces searched the home of Shahram Azadi in Khorramshahr. They took his identification papers and his mobile phone. In Mahshahr, the house of a Baha’i couple Shokrollah and Sadigheh Hajiani was searched on October 19. Both were detained, and Mrs. Hajiani was later released. On October 21, security forces searched Pejzman Nikooneja’s house in Babol, confiscated some personal belongings and detained him for two hours.

Several Baha’i citizens were summoned to interrogations by security forces. Four Baha’is in Kashan, Shahrzad Mahjoor, Ruhieh Fanaian, Soheil Husaynipour and Feraydoon Fallah were interrogated by the Revolutionary Court on September 23 and later released. On September 26, another Baha’i resident of Kashan, Rosita Zabihian, was questioned by the Revolutionary Court. She was summoned to the interrogation by the Revolutionary Guards Information Office earlier that month. The same office summoned six Baha’is from the nearby village of Mazgan for interrogation. The six, Nourollah Samiee, Shahram Ehsani, Mr. Heshmatollah Ehsani, Mr. Nourollah Shahidi, Mr. Rahmatollah Shahidi and Mr. Siavash Dabestani, were question in Kashan on September 30.

While many Baha’i students were simply denied the right to start their higher education this year, despite passing the entrance exam, three Baha’i students in Semnan completed one week in the university before they were expelled.

A number of Baha’is have been arrested over the last month and a half. On October 12, Behnam Rouhanifard was arrested in Yazd and taken to an undisclosed location. Four days later, his brother, Sohail Rouhanifard was arrested too. On October 19, Peyman Kashfi, a Baha’i from Tehran was summoned to the Revolutionary Court, and never returned from there. When his family inquired about his whereabouts, they were told that he’s detained in section 209 of Evin Prison (the section reserved for political prisoners). He is not allowed to see visitors and accept packages from his family. On October 31, Yasuj Intelligence Office searched the house of Ali Bakhsh Bazrafkan, confiscated some of his belongings and then brought him to his son’s house, searched that house too and confiscated all religious writings. Ali was later arrested. On November 2, two Baha’is in Mashad were arrested and taken to an unknown location. Security forces arrested the two, Sonia Ahmadi and Mr. Ghanavatian after they’ve entered a religious session of the Baha’is in town that evening and filmed it.

On October 30, Ruhollah Rezaei a Baha’i citizen in Shiraz was kidnapped by unknown men and tortured. He was threatened, hung by a rope to make his believe that he’s about to be hanged, undressed and burned with cigarettes all over his body. Mr. Rezaei was previously jailed for five years in 1981 when he was only 18.

On October 19, nine Baha’is from Mashhad, Davar Nabilzadeh, Kaviz Noozdahi, Rosita Vaseghi, Sima Rajabian, Nahid Ghadiri, Nasrin Ghadiri, Sima Eshraghi, Jalayer Vahdat and Hooman Bakhtavar, were summoned to the Security Office for interrogation. On October 25, the second hearing in their case took place. The nine face different charges, including propaganda against the regime, activities against national security, teaching the Baha’i Faith and insulting religious sanctities.
In Early Novemver, A Baha’i woman from Semnan, Manijeh Monzavian, was sentenced to three and half years in prison for acting against national security by promoting the Baha’i Faith and membership in Baha’i anti-regime organizations. As expected, the trial of the seven Baha’i leaders (the Yaran), which was set to start on October 18, was postponed for the fourth time. According to IRNA, Alireza Avaie, head of Tehran’s justice department, said that he “believes they will be tried in the near future.”

Following the destruction of the Baha’i cemetery of Vilashahr and Najafabad for the 18th time, Azizu’llah Subhi Najafabad, a Baha’i from Najafabad was buried on September 27 in Isfahan without notification to his family. As we’ve previously mentioned, his family was not allowed to bury him in the Baha’i cemetery following its destruction, and his body was held in the hospital since his death on September 15.

Various acts of vandalism against Baha’i property were perpetrated as well. In late September the windows of a car belonging to Mahboub Bandi, a Baha’i from Rafsanjan, were smashed by unidentified men. Only a few days later, on October 2, the car of Farzad Mohebati was set on fire in the same town. Also, On September 27, unidentified motorcyclists smashed the windows of Nezamuddin Fanaian’s car in Semnan. The similar attack was carried out in the city on October 7 against Adel Fanaian’s car. On November 2, a large water tank was stolen from a Baha’i cemetery in Sangar, near Semnan, probably using a crane. As we know from previous incidents, vandalism against Baha’i property is not investigated by authorities, thus affirming to the perpetrators a feeling of impunity.

As a background to this ongoing persecution is the state-supported incitement against Baha’is and their Faith. On October 8, a seminar in the city of Mashad for the “review and critique of sects” called the Baha’i Faith a “pseudo-sect”. Also, On October 10, Ghoranali Dorri Najafabadi, the representative of the Supreme Leader and the leader of the Friday prayer in the city of Arak, spoke to a group of women. In his speech he described Baha’i religious activities as “suspicious, seditious and criminal”. Until a few months ago, Mr. Najafabadi served as Solicitor General and was responsible for the decision to disband the informal local Baha’i councils (the formal ones were banned in 1979).

Related posts:

1. Round-up of Updates about the Ongoing Persecution of Baha’is in Iran
2. Round-up of updates from Iran
3. 10 homes raided in Mashhad; 2 Baha’is arrested

Unknown men bulldozed over the Baha’i cemetery of Vilashahr and Najafabad, near Isfahan. This is the 18th time that cemetery has been destroyed. According to the Committee of Human Rights Reporters, following the destruction, a Baha’i family was not given permission to bury a member of the family in that cemetery. Authorities also impeded the burial of a Baha’i men in Semnan by first denying them a birth certificate, then by demanding that the pay four times as much for the needed certificate. Finally, after acquiescing to the persistent pleas of the family, the funeral was carried out. Toward the end of the ceremony, local hooligans harassed the grieving family with insults, and later a small group of protesters marched in Semnan, chanting anti-Baha’i slogans. Also in Semnan, Susan Tebyanian-Jabbari was released from detention to find a letter notifying her that her work permit has been revoked. Near Semnan, the crops of a Baha’i farmer were torched.

Many Baha’i students who passed the college entrance exam were denied education, on account of “incomplete application”. This is a known tactic used by Iranian authorities to disguise the fact that Baha’is are routinely denied the basic human right of education. In addition, a Baha’i student was expelled from Bandar Abaas University.

The courts have had a busy time trying Baha’is across Iran based on the usual charges of teaching the Baha’i Faith, acting against state security and propaganda against the Islamic Republic. In Semnan, Behnam Moteareffi was sentenced for 18 months, and Ali Eshsani for two years in prison, two years in exile and a fine. The Revolutionary Court in Shahr-e-Rey is now trying a Baha’i for sedition, insulting Islam, membership in illegal groups and Messianic claims. The Revolutionary Court in Sari managed to hand down no less than six sentences for Baha’is in just two days. In Ghaem-Shahr the Iranian authorities closed down the businesses of an imprisoned Baha’i couple.

Baha’is cannot lead a normal life in Iran. They are discriminated against, harassed, put on trial, imprisoned and even killed solely for practicing a different religion. Please don’t let their suffering be forgotten. Make your voices heard.

Related posts:

1. Round-up of updates from Iran: Persecution of Baha’is continues unabated
2. Round-up of updates from Iran
3. Iran’s persecution of Bahá’ís is devastating

It is interesting how the Iranian regime accuses Baha’is of being agents of Israel and other Western powers, and that Uzbekistani state media now claims that Baha’is are in fact Iranian agents. The following is a translation prepared by BahaiRights from the original article in Russian:

Sect Member Sows Trouble
By Abduvali Turayev
September 16, 2009

A recent decision by the Khamzin regional court in the Uzbekistani capital Tashkent led to the expulsion without the right to return from Uzbekistan of a 36 year-old citizen of Kazakhstan. The Kazakh, Timur Chekparbaev, was found guilty of active propagation of the ideas of the Baha’i religious community.

The missionary had a temporary right to stay [propiska] in the Khamzin region of Tashkent. Looking at if from the side, it seems strange how a foreigner was able to put together a significant religion community in a short time. This community included young people not just from Tashkent, but also from the Djizak and the Bukharian governorates of Uzbekistan.
I would like to offer a short explanation to the readers about this new religion. The teachings of the Baha’is took shape in 1844 in Persia, as a totally separate religion, wholly based on the teachings of its founder, Baha’u'llah. It does not represent a cult within a religion, a reformist movement or a sect within some other religion. It can not be called a mere philosophical system.

Back in 1904 the Russian writer Sergey Ignatyevich Umanetz mentioned the Baha’i as a separate religion. And in 1925, an Islamic court in Egypt ruled that the Baha’i Faith is a separate religion, and not a sect within Islam. However, other opinions on this matter exist. For example, according to the known expert on sects Walter Martin “Baha’ism is an Iranian transplant in the United States, a syncretic religion that aims at uniting all believers in a worldwide brotherhood. The Faith adheres to the truths of the major world religions and considers Baha’u'llah to be the Messiah of our time. The Faith attaches less importance to other issues, and gives people the freedom of belief regarding those issues.”

It is clear that Mr. Chekparbaev arrived in Uzbekistan in the aim of creating a similar Iranian transplant in the country, drawing on the support of generous donations from sponsors. By the way, the headquarters of the Baha’is operate in the open in Israel. Certain elements from that country find it very useful to use the Baha’i community to shatter the unity of the Muslim ranks, since the Jews see Islam as the main opponent of Judaism. It is also interesting that in the dawn of Baha’ism, Russia offered asylum to one of the leaders of this persecuted religion. And in Ashkhabad [Turkmenistan], one of the Baha’i communities was built.

This young man [Chekparbaev] carried out missionary and proselytizing activity without having the proper religious education and the appropriate license to carry on an activity of such sort, and in violation of the Uzbekistani law, and the rules governing stays in the country.

Maybe in Kazakhstan they turn a blind eye on such things, but in Uzbekistan, the mission of the preacher of Baha’i religious ideas proved short. On the 24th of July of this year, Mr. Chekparbaev was arrested and sent to the court for holding yet another “meeting” in house 36 on Bayikurganska Street in the Khamzin region of Tashkent. The regional court gave him a rather lenient sentence: 15 days in prison followed by an expulsion from the country without a right to return.

In principle, Chekparbaev couldn’t officially carry missionary activity since Baha’i isn’t recognized as an official, separate religion by the world community. Therefore, this ideological sabotage had very clear goals that are connected to increasing the geo-political influence of Iran, and sowing confusion in the minds of millions of Uzbekistani citizens. Is seems that such a lenient treatment of all sorts of missionaries won’t stop the incoming waves of dark personalities, which wish to test their luck based on the questionable field of false prophets. The Uzbekistani authorities will kick out one person, but the people behind this will send someone instead. But the moral damage inflicted on the fragile souls on young people (by the way, Mr. Chekparbaev’s so-called flock included minors!), will not be reversed so easily. Who knows, maybe this is Kazakhstan’s attempts at transferring the work of all sorts of false prophets from their country to their neighbor, Uzbekistan.

Related posts:

1. Iran State Media Blames the “Baha’i Sect” for Recent Unrest
2. Iranian media claims arrested Baha’is possessed commincations equipment
3. Iran’s persecution of Bahá’ís is devastating

Following a trial that didn’t follow the appropriate legal procedures, Zabihollah Raoufi, a Baha’i from the Sanandaj governorate, was sentenced by the Revolutionary Court to one year of imprisonment. Ali Ehsani, a Baha’i resident of Semnan was sentenced to two years of imprisonment and additional two years of exile for spreading propaganda and activities against national security. (IPW translation) Khabard Navar reported the arrest and subsequent release on bail of two Baha’is from Kashan. They will be charged with “propagation of the Baha’i religion” in court. (IPW translation) In Ahvaz, the trial of a Baha’i couple commenced last month. They are accused of teaching the Baha’i Faith and the persecutor requested the maximum sentence. In Hamadan, Khabar Navard reports that Mehrangiz Husayni has begun her one year sentence for “propagation of the Baha’i religion”.

These innocent Baha’i citizens are persecuted and punished simply for practicing a different religion. We call on the Iranian regime to immediately release all Baha’is from custody and drop all the fabricated charges against members of the community.

Related posts:

1. Round-up of Updates about the Ongoing Persecution of Baha’is in Iran
2. Round-up of updates from Iran: Persecution of Baha’is continues unabated
3. 3 Baha’i Youth Imprisoned in Shiraz!

The seven Baha’is are the members of “Friends of Iran”, a national-level coordinating group for the Baha’i community in Iran. Six of the group, Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaie, Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Vahid Tizfahm, have been arrested in their home in Tehran on May 14, 2008. Mahvash Sabet was arrested on March 5, 2008 during a visit to Mashad.

We renew our call for the immediate release of the seven innocent Baha’is. Any trial based on such false charges can not be fair, regardless of its outcome. As Muslims, we must stand behind those innocent people persecuted in the name of our religion. We would like to reiterate our support for the persecuted Baha’is in Iran in this difficult time.

Related posts:

1. Iran Sentences Baha’i Leaders to 20 Years in Prison
2. Trial of 7 leaders delayed
3. Trial of Recently Detained Baha’is to Start “this Week” in Tehran