Seven Baha’i leaders in Iran get 20 years jail
By IANSTuesday, August 17, 2010
NEW DELHI - Seven Baha’i leaders, convicted in Iran on charges of conducting propaganda activities against the Islamic order and spying, are believed to have been sentenced to 20 years jail, community leaders said here Tuesday.
The Indian Baha’i community “completely and categorically” denied the charges against the two women and five men being held in Tehran’s Evin prison since 2008.
“If this news (of 20 years prison sentence) 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 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,” he added.
According to the Indian Bahai community, the prisoners - Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaie, Mahvash Sabet, Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Vahid Tizfahm - were all members of a national-level group that helped see to the minimum needs of Iran’s 300,000-strong Baha’i community, the country’s largest non-Muslim religious minority.
The trial of the seven consisted of six brief court appearances which began Jan 12 after they were convicted on charges of espionage, propaganda activities against the Islamic order, and the establishment of an illegal administration, among other allegations.
