Hrana Reports Rejection of Peyman Vali's Request for Retrial by the Supreme Court

The news agency of human rights activists in Iran, Hrana, reported on Sunday, citing an informed source, that the Supreme Court of the Islamic Republic has rejected the request for retrial of Peyman Vali, a imprisoned Baha'i citizen. According to this report, an informed source close to Peyman Vali's family confirmed this news to Hrana, stating, 'The request for retrial of this prisoner was rejected by the highest judicial authority in Iran in early Bahman 1402.' Before the Nowruz holidays, the request for leave of this Baha'i citizen, who is serving his prison sentence in Gohardasht Prison in Karaj, faced opposition from the Chief Justice of Alborz Province and the Prosecutor of Karaj. Peyman Vali was arrested by security forces on 2 Mehr 1401 during a search of his home in Karaj and was convicted in early Esfand of the same year by Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court of Alborz Province, presided over by Judge Mousa Asf al-Hosseini. He was sentenced to ten years in prison for what was termed 'collaboration with hostile governments,' five years for 'inciting or provoking people to war and killing each other,' and one year for 'propaganda against the regime.' After serving his prison term, he was also sentenced to two years of travel ban and two years of compulsory residence in Yasuj County, along with weekly reporting to the Revolutionary Court as 'additional punishment.' In a report published on 13 Farvardin, Human Rights Watch classified the actions of the Islamic Republic in harassing Baha'is in Iran as 'crimes against humanity' and stated that this issue should be examined by the International Criminal Court. Forty-three Iranian and international organizations, including Human Rights Watch, called for the extension of the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran and an independent international fact-finding committee in a letter to the UN Human Rights Council in early Farvardin. The spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State expressed deep concern last Monday over the repression of the Baha'i community in Iran, stating that Washington would use all available tools to combat human rights violations by the Islamic Republic.