The Muslim Network for Baha'i Rights » Uncategorized

7 Baha’i leaders to appear before court next week

Muslim Network for Baha'i Rights — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 11:56:16 +0000

As Iran celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, and marks Islamic Revolution Victory Day, Tehran’s deputy prosecutor announced that the 7 Baha’i leaders arrested last year will be tried for “espionage for Israel”, among other things. Their case will appear before court next week.

Iran will soon try seven members of the banned Bahai religion on charges including “espionage for Israel,” the ISNA news agency reported on Wednesday.

“The charges against seven defendants in the case of the illegal Bahai group were examined … and the case will be sent to the revolutionary court next week,” deputy Tehran prosecutor Hassan Haddad was quoted as saying.

Haddad said the charges included “espionage for Israel, insulting religious sanctities and propaganda against the Islamic republic.”

Iran and Israel are arch-enemies, and Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly called for the Jewish state to be wiped off the map.

In late January, judiciary spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi said Iran had arrested six adherents of the Bahai faith on the same charges.

Earlier last month, the Fars news agency said the ex-secretary of Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi’s office was detained for links with an organisation of the Bahai faith, adding that the ex-staffer was a Bahai herself.

Haddad did not say if the seven being charged were the same as those arrested in January.

Video of the destruction of cemetery in Ghaemshahr

Muslim Network for Baha'i Rights — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 19:44:41 +0000

Human Rights Activists in Iran has posted a video of the recent destruction of a Baha’i cemetery in the Iranian town of Ghaemshahr.

According to an earlier report, the Baha’i community of Ghaemshahr were demanded to cease using the cemetery at Darzikola by the Ministry of Intelligence last May. The

Update on Noor and Hana

Muslim Network for Baha'i Rights — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 09:00:37 +0000

About a month ago, we learned the story of Nour and Hana – two Baha’i children in Egypt denied access to education because they lacked electronic birth certificates. To date, Egyptian citizens are only capable of listing three religions (Judaism, Christianity or Islam) under the “Religion” field in official documents, thus leaving the Baha’i community without access to basic civil rights.

Now, Al Masry Al Youm reports that the private school allowed the two girls to be enrolled, following intervention by the Egyptian Initiaitive for Personal Rights and the National Council for Human Rights.

After negotiations, the school administration decided to enroll Nour again in the school and to admit Hana to the kindergarten, provided that they study one of the two recognized religions. This was accepted by their father. The school stipulated that the father brings the electronic certificates before mid-December.

Although el-Gamal deserves appreciation for his intervention to save those two innocent children’s future, the problem is still unsolved, not only because the two children could be dismissed in a few weeks’ time, but also because the problem concerns several other Egyptian Bahais. Indeed, administrative bodies insist on not giving them any official documents recognizing their religion.

These organs offer them to write one of the three recognized religions in the religion space in their documents, otherwise they will have no official documents. The bodies had taken official documents away from them that recognized their religion.

The gross error made by governmental organs is that they deal with the issue of Bahaism as a religious issue and adopts their views and take their decisions on the basis of statements and opinions by Al-Azhar Grand Sheikh and the Islamic Research Academy regarding Islam’s stance on Bahaism.

As far as the State is concerned, this is a civil and constitutional, rather than religious, affair

While this is a small victory, it remains a marked improvement and a significant step forward. The case had generated a lot of outrage and sparked important debates and served to remind us that by speaking out and taking action, we can make a difference.