NEW YORK — The Baha'i International Community is launching a global campaign calling for the immediate release of the seven Iranian Baha'i leaders, unjustly imprisoned now for nine years.

The campaign, which takes the theme “Not Another Year,” raises awareness about the seven women and men unjustly arrested in 2008 and sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment for their religious beliefs. This sentence was reduced to 10 years in 2015 after the overdue application of a new Iranian Penal Code.

"Our expectation is that these seven brave individuals will be released in the coming year as they complete their sentences," said Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations.

"But the reality is that they never should have even been arrested or imprisoned in the first place and that, under the terms of Iranian law, they should long ago have been released on conditional discharge.

"In fact these seven, their families, and, indeed, the entire Iranian Baha'i community are all subject to injustice and cruelty, to oppression and tyranny. They all face unjust policies of economic strangulation, the unabated denial of access to higher education, and unprosecuted and malicious attacks on Baha'is and their properties, not to mention extensive negative propaganda in the official media," she said.

In a message addressed to the Baha'is of Iran on the occasion of the anniversary of the imprisonment of the seven, the Universal House of Justice states:

"Some of the events of the past year have left no doubt in the minds of the people of Iran and beyond, that the rigid fanaticism and worldly considerations of some among the religious leaders are the real motive for all the opposition and oppression against the Baha'is."

It further states: "the representatives of the country on the international stage are no longer able to deny that these acts of discrimination are in response to matters of belief and conscience. Officials, lacking any convincing explanation for their irrational conduct and unconcerned at the damage done by their narrow policies to the name and credibility of the country, find themselves unable even to give a plausible answer to why they are so apprehensive about the existence of a dynamic Baha'i community in that land."

The campaign for the seven imprisoned Baha'is, which begins today, aims to secure the immediate release of the seven, who are Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaie, Mahvash Sabet, Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Vahid Tizfahm, the eldest of whom is over eighty years in age.

Similar to campaigns from previous years, it commemorates the anniversary of the arrest of six of the seven on 14 May 2008. It will be supported by videos, songs, and activities designed to call attention to their plight.

The campaign this year also focuses on all the events they have missed during their nine years in prison, the joys—and sorrows—of day-to-day life with their families and loved ones.

"All seven were married with children and, prior to their arrests, had rich family lives," said Ms. Dugal. "All seven were also extremely active in working for the betterment of their community—not to mention Iranian society as a whole.

"Further, their long-running imprisonment has meant, among other things, that they have missed out on the birth of numerous grandchildren, the joyous weddings of children and close relatives, and the funerals of family members and dear friends.

"They have been forced to celebrate their national and religious holidays in prison, instead of in the company of their loved ones. And, while in prison, they have been unable to tend to their farms and businesses, which have languished or, in at least one case, been destroyed by the government," she said.

The Baha'i International Community calls on the Iranian government to immediately release them, as well as the other 86 Baha'is currently behind bars in Iran—all held solely for their religious beliefs.

More background about the campaign can be found at a special section of the website of the Baha'i International Community.