A selection of articles exploring the background to the arrest, trial and conviction
of Iran’s seven Baha’i leaders.
Violations of legal procedures
Under international law, the seven Baha’i leaders initially sentenced to 20 years
imprisonment in Iran should never have been arrested in the first place.
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Innocent of all charges
The charges leveled against the seven Baha’i leaders reflect the depth of animosity
and prejudice directed towards them — as well as a degree of ignorance regarding the
basic principles and history of the Baha’i Faith.
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The Baha’i Institute of Higher Education
Since the 1979 Iranian revolution, hundreds of Baha’i students who had entered university
have been expelled. Thousands of others have been deprived from entering in the first
place. The reason for their expulsions, or non-admittance, has been solely their membership
of the Baha’i Faith.
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Inside Evin prison
For more than two years, the seven Baha’i leaders were held in Tehran’s notorious
Evin prison. During her own incarceration, journalist Roxana Saberi shared a cell
for three weeks in early 2009 with the two women Baha’i prisoners, Fariba Kamalabadi
and Mahvash Sabet.
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The trial of an entire community
The verdict issued against the seven Iranian Baha’i leaders is in reality a verdict
against an entire religious community.
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The 1991 memorandum on “The Baha’i Question”
Iran’s anti-Baha’i activities are a deliberate government policy. That evidence came
in the form of a secret memorandum, which had been drawn up by the Iranian Supreme
Revolutionary Cultural Council (ISRCC) in 1991, prepared at the request of the Leader
of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the then President of
Iran, Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
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Open letter to Iran’s Prosecutor General
On 4 March 2009, the Baha’i International Community issued an open letter to Iran's
prosecutor general outlining the tragic history of the persecution of Baha’is in Iran.
The letter explained their innocence in the face of accusations made by the government,
and asking for fairness in any upcoming trial of the seven Iranian Baha’i leaders
then being held in Evin prison.
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