Lawyer of Hashemi Family: Fa'ezeh is Not a Child to Follow Ayatollah Hashemi's Opinion

Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabai, the lawyer for the Hashemi family, reacted on the second of Khordad to the threat from the spokesperson of the judiciary that legal action would be taken against Fa'ezeh Hashemi due to her meeting with Fariba Kamalabadi, a imprisoned manager of the Baha'i community in Iran. He stated: "According to the Constitution, after Articles 12 and 13, which relate to religious minorities, Article 14 states that non-Muslims should be treated humanely, except for those who conspire against the Islamic Republic." Gholamhossein Mohseni Eje'i emphasized on Wednesday, 29 Ordibehesht, that "worse than this act was that after all the condemnations and even after the father's recommendation, she did not apologize, which is truly regrettable." Following the publication of a photo of Fa'ezeh Hashemi, the editor of the suspended newspaper 'Zan', at Fariba Kamalabadi's home, conservative figures and media criticized this action and called for a response from the head of the Expediency Discernment Council. In this context, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani stated in an interview with the newspaper 'Jomhouri Eslami' published on Tuesday, 27 Ordibehesht, that "Fa'ezeh has made a serious mistake and must correct and compensate for it." Fa'ezeh Hashemi has stated that she has not committed any wrongdoing and is not regretful. She also responded to conservative attacks by saying that her family has faced greater pressures in recent years and that it does not matter; one must pay the price. Alizadeh, in response to a question from the Fars news agency regarding why Fa'ezeh Hashemi did not apologize despite Ayatollah Rafsanjani's emphasis that this action was wrong, said: "Ms. Hashemi says that before I went to prison, I did not know who the Baha'is were; I was taken to prison and placed in a room with Baha'is. Now, after eight years, one of them has been released on leave, and I went to see her as a moral, humane, and Islamic act." He added: "Fa'ezeh is not a child to have her behavior dictated and submitted to Ayatollah [Hashemi Rafsanjani], and each has their own opinion." Following the protests against Fa'ezeh Hashemi's meeting with Fariba Kamalabadi, fatwas from some Shia clerics regarding Baha'is have also been republished in recent days. Among them, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, has described the Baha'i faith as a "misguided sect" and Baha'is as "unclean" in several separate fatwas. Fariba Kamalabadi, along with Jamaleddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saeed Rezaei, Behrouz Tavakoli, Vahid Tizfahm, and Mahvash Sabet, were members of a group called 'Yaran' that was arrested in 2008. The 'Yaran' group was responsible for managing the Baha'i community in Iran. According to the European Baha'i community, about 300,000 Baha'is live in Iran, while the laws of the Islamic Republic do not recognize Baha'ism as a religion, and Baha'is in Iran are deprived of the right to education at universities and employment in government institutions. The Baha'i community states that since the 1979 revolution, more than 200 Baha'is have been killed by the Iranian government, and thousands of Baha'is have been arrested and subjected to harassment. Meanwhile, Simin Fahandej, spokesperson for the Baha'i World Community, stated last February that more than 80 Baha'is are imprisoned in Iran. The United States, the European Union, and human rights organizations have repeatedly called for the release of Baha'is from prison.