180. The Trial of Bahá’ís Involved with the Bahá’í Institute for Higher Education in Iran

180

The Trial of Bahá’ís Involved with
the Bahá’í Institute for Higher Education in Iran

6 November 2011

Selected National Spiritual Assemblies

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

180.1 The Universal House of Justice has directed us to share with you the following information for your urgent attention….

180.2 It was reported on 20 October 2011 that these seven Bahá’ís—Maḥmúd Bádavám [Mahmoud Badavam], Núshín Khádim [Noushin Khadem], Vaḥíd Maḥmúdí [Vahid Mahmoudi], Kámrán Murtiḍá’í [Kamran Mortezaie], Farhád Ṣidqí [Farhad Sedghi], Ríyáḍ Subḥaní [Riaz Sobhani], and Rámín Zíbá’í [Ramin Zibaie]—had, on two separate days, been taken to court in handcuffs and chained at their ankles, where, in the presence of their attorneys, they were informed of the verdict. As you are aware, Vaḥíd Maḥmúdí and Kámrán Murtiḍá’í were each sentenced to five years in prison, and four-year prison sentences were imposed on each of the remaining five defendants.

180.3 No written copy of the verdict has been provided to the prisoners or their lawyers; therefore, it is not possible to comment on it in detail. However, transcripts made by those present at the hearing indicate that the Bahá’ís were all found guilty of “membership of the deviant Bahaist sect, with the goal of taking action against the security of the country, in order to further the aims of the deviant sect and those of organizations outside the country.” The judgements also cast the activities of the accused in support of the Bahá’í Institute for Higher Education as crimes and as evidence of their purported aim to subvert the State. There is, of course, no foundation whatever to the judiciary’s assertion that the seven sought to undermine Iranian national security, and the authorities are themselves fully aware that such an accusation is utterly without credence. The prohibition on the attendance of foreign diplomats at the trials and the refusal of the judiciary to provide written documentation of the verdict to the accused demonstrate how unjustifiable are the assertions and actions of the government.

180.4 The judgement nonetheless clearly exposes the blatant religious discrimination that is at the heart of this case. Citing that Iran’s Constitution upholds the rights of all the nation’s citizens, the authorities persistently deny that Bahá’ís are persecuted on account of their religion. In practice, however, as this particular case clearly illustrates, the rights of the Bahá’ís are routinely and deliberately flouted by the government….

With** **loving Bahá’í greetings,

Department of the Secretariat\