wfn.org | LONGEST-SERVING BAHA'I PRISONERS RELEASED IN IRAN

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	

Contact: Kit Bigelow or Jerry Prince	202-833-8990

LONGEST-SERVING BAHA'I PRISONERS RELEASED IN IRAN

Washington, DC, February 17, 2004 - Two members of the Baha'i Faith in Iran
were released from prison on February 7, 2004, after completing terms of
nearly 15 years imprisonment on charges arising solely from their religious
beliefs.

Mr. Bihnam Mithaqi and Mr. Kayvan Khalajabadi were imprisoned on April 29,
1989, for "association with Baha'i institutions." They were both originally
sentenced to eight years' imprisonment, but upon appeal, their sentences
were commuted to three years' imprisonment plus 50 lashes. Both prisoners
appealed this decision, and on April 30, 1991, the Islamic Revolutionary
Court sentenced them to death. On February 18, 1996, the Supreme Court of
Iran rejected numerous appeals and confirmed the death sentences. In
February 2001, after further judicial reviews, the chief of the judicial
branch reduced their sentences to 15 years in prison and set February 2004
for their release.

"We are extremely pleased that these men, who were young men at the time of
their arrest, have been released and are now reunited with their families,"
said Kit Bigelow, the director of external affairs of the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States. "However, the overall
situation of the Baha'is in Iran remains serious, and we hope that this
long-suffering religious minority will be completely emancipated in the
not-too-distant future."

The only Baha'i still known to be held in an Iranian prison because of his
adherence to the Baha'i Faith is Mr. Zabihullah Mahrami, who was arrested in
Yazd in September 1995 and is serving a life sentence.

Since the Islamic Republic of Iran was established in 1979, the more than
300,000-member Baha'i community of Iran has faced continuous and systematic
persecution. In the early 1980s, more than 200 Baha'is were killed, hundreds
were imprisoned, and thousands were deprived of jobs and education, solely
because of their religious belief.

Although killings and imprisonments have abated in recent years-in large
part due to international pressure-Iran's Baha'is remain victims of
systematic oppression. Baha'is continue to be subject to short-term
detention, denied access to higher education, and deprived of employment,
property and the right to freedom of assembly and worship. In December 2003,
the UN General Assembly approved a resolution that expresses "serious
concern" over continuing violations of human rights in Iran-and mentions
specifically "continuing discrimination" against Baha'is and other religious
minorities. The UN General Assembly and the UN Commission on Human Rights
have passed similar resolutions nearly every year since 1985.

The Baha'i community in the United States numbers about 150,000, of whom
more than 10,000 are Iranian Baha'i refugees who fled Iran after the 1979
Islamic Revolution.

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BAHA'MS OF THE UNITED STATES
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