10-Year Prison Sentence and 'Deprivation of Other Rights' Confirmed for Two Baha'i Citizens in Iran

The 10-year prison sentence for Mahvash Shahriari and Fariba Kamalabadi, Baha'i citizens imprisoned in Evin Prison, has been confirmed by the Tehran Court of Appeals. Reza Akvanian, a human rights activist, wrote in a post on the messaging platform 'X': 'Branch 36 of the Tehran Court of Appeals has sentenced Mahvash Shahriari (Sabateh) and Fariba Kamalabadi, two imprisoned Baha'i citizens in Evin, to 10 years in prison, a two-year travel ban, a two-year prohibition on residing in Tehran, a two-year ban on social group activities, and confiscation of property including mobile phones, computers, and other tools related to the crime.' The accusations raised by the Ministry of Intelligence against these two Baha'i citizens were 'forming and managing a group to act against national security'; an accusation they have vehemently denied from the beginning of the charges to the court defense, calling the indictment merely a political statement. Mahvash Shahriari and Fariba Kamalabadi were arrested on July 30, 2022, and after months of detention in solitary confinement in Ward 209 of the Ministry of Intelligence, they were transferred to the women's section of Evin Prison. These two citizens had previously spent two and a half years in solitary confinement in Ward 209 of Evin Prison and eight and a half years in the general wards of Rajai Shahr Prison, Qarchak Varamin Prison, and Evin Prison. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom condemned the increasing repression of religious minorities, particularly Baha'is, by the Islamic Republic in a statement on August 4, 2022, and urged the Biden administration to increase pressure on the Iranian government to end decades of persecution against Baha'is. Farhad Sabetan, spokesperson for the worldwide Baha'i community, previously emphasized in an interview with Voice of America that the charges against Baha'i citizens in Iran are 'baseless.'