Baha'i News: Shock at "duplicity" as 20-year sentence for Iran's Baha'i leaders is reinstated

[Baha’i World News Service - Subscribe <bwns-subscribe@bwc.org>]

Baha'i World News Service
http://news.bahai.org
For more information, contact news@bahai.org


Shock at "duplicity" as 20-year sentence for Iran's Baha'i leaders is 
reinstated 


NEW YORK, 30 March 2011 (BWNS) – Just six months after Iran's appeal court 
reduced to 10 years the jail terms handed down to seven Baha'i leaders, the 
prisoners have been told that their original 20-year sentences have been 
reinstated.

The Baha'i International Community has reacted with shock and dismay at the 
news. 

"We can confirm that the seven have been told by prison authorities that the 
ruling of the appeal court has been rescinded," said Bani Dugal, the principal 
representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations. 

"But nothing has been seen in writing by the prisoners or their attorneys, so 
we cannot know precisely on what grounds the reduced jail terms have now been 
set aside.

"It seems, however, that there was a challenge by the Prosecutor General who 
can appeal any court judgement he believes contradicts Shariah law," said Ms. 
Dugal. 

Only last month, the international community was told that the 10-year prison 
terms were confirmed when the Iranian Embassy in Brussels presented a document 
to a European Parliament briefing, in which it is clearly stated that the court 
initially issued 20 year sentences for "espionage, acting against National 
Security and forming an illegal cult".  However, the document then went on to 
say that the verdict was later reviewed and "decreased to 10 years' 
imprisonment". 

Notwithstanding repeated requests, no one has ever received an official copy of 
the original verdict or the ruling on appeal, said Ms. Dugal.

"This has all the appearance of a ploy, calculated to enable the authorities to 
manipulate the outcome to suit their own ends. Any fair minded observer can see 
the duplicity, crass cynicism and vile motives of the Iranian authorities in 
their prosecution of this case.

"From the initial, illegal, 30-month detention of the seven – through the gross 
irregularities of their trial – to the judiciary's refusal to issue any 
official verdict to the defendants or their lawyers, the actions of the 
authorities have demonstrated at every turn that the decision to impose harsh 
sentences was predetermined," said Ms. Dugal. 


"Loyal, law-abiding citizens"

The seven, who were all members of a national-level ad hoc group that attended 
to the needs of Iran's Baha'i community, were incarcerated in Gohardasht prison 
– about 50 kilometers west of Tehran – in August last year, following a brief 
trial after which they were each sentenced to 20 years in jail. 

One month later, the appeal court revoked three charges that accused the seven 
of engaging in acts of espionage, collaboration with the State of Israel, and 
the provision of classified documents to foreign nationals with the intention 
of undermining state security.

"At the same time, the judiciary – determined to find the Baha'is guilty of 
something – said that their service to the Baha'i community was basically 
illegal and fixed their sentences at 10 years," said Ms. Dugal. 

The refusal of the authorities to provide prison officials with the necessary 
documentation regarding the case has also precluded the prisoners from securing 
temporary leave on compassionate grounds or to obtain much needed medical 
attention and care, she added. 

"The judiciary sanctimoniously claims to be serving the cause of justice while 
persistently trampling upon the rights of loyal, law-abiding citizens," she 
said. 


International condemnation

The imprisonment of the Baha'i leaders has provoked a worldwide chorus of 
condemnation from governments – including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, 
Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the 
United States. 

The European Union and the President of the European Parliament have also 
joined the protest, along with numerous human rights organizations and other 
groups, religious leaders, and countless individuals. 

"It seems that the wide-ranging international pressure did impel the Iranian 
judiciary to reduce the original prison sentences," said Ms. Dugal. "Now, 
however, they must have concluded that they can simply return to the original 
plan.

"But voices raised during this last month alone should tell them otherwise," 
she noted. 

Last week, the UN Human Rights Council voted to appoint a special investigator 
to monitor Iran's compliance with international human rights standards.

The resolution followed the release of a report by UN Secretary General Ban 
Ki-moon, expressing concern about reports of the persecution of minorities in 
Iran, which specifically highlighted the case of its Baha'i community and the 
imprisonment of the seven Baha'i leaders.

In his message of 20 March 2011 for the traditional Persian New Year, U.S. 
President Barack Obama highlighted human rights abuses in Iran saying, "The 
world has watched these unjust actions with alarm...We have seen...the Bahai 
community and Sufi Muslims punished for their faith..." 

Members of all political parties in the Netherlands parliament's Standing 
Committee on Foreign Affairs addressed a letter on 17 March to the Iranian 
Parliament, expressing "deep concern about reports on violations of the right 
to freedom of religion or belief" in Iran and calling for the immediate release 
of the seven imprisoned Baha'i leaders. Three days earlier, in India, more than 
90 prominent citizens renewed their call in an open letter for the release of 
the seven. 

"The persecution of Baha'is has been particularly pronounced," said an article 
in the Wall Street Journal on 15 March, penned by Iranian-American journalist 
Roxana Saberi who shared a cell in Evin Prison with the two women Baha'i 
leaders. "After Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, many Baha'is were executed and 
several disappeared. Some have seen their cemeteries desecrated or had their 
homes burned to the ground."

Bani Dugal reiterated the fact that the treatment of the seven is taking place 
against a backdrop of state-sanctioned incitement to hatred against Baha'is.

"Arson attacks on their places of business, attempts to force them out of their 
homes, along with a litany of other violations of their rights, have become all 
too familiar and continue to grow daily. Some 79 Bahais are today in prison in 
Iran."  

"The Iranian government must know that its actions towards the Baha'is – and 
all others who suffer oppression at its hands – have only served to sully its 
reputation further.

"We will not cease in our call to governments, organizations and fair-minded 
people everywhere, to take whatever steps they can to register the strongest 
possible protest against Iran's actions," said Ms. Dugal.



To read the article online and view photographs, go to:
http://news.bahai.org/story/814

________________________________________________

Copyright 2011 by the Baha'i World News Service. Stories and photographs 
produced by the Baha'i World News Service may be freely reprinted, re-emailed, 
re-posted to the World Wide Web and otherwise reproduced by any individual or 
organization as long as they are attributed to the Baha'i World News Service. 
For more information, go to http://news.bahai.org/terms-of-use/