Revolutionary Court of Isfahan Sentences Two Baha'i Citizens to Ten Years in Prison and Fines

Human rights sources report that two Baha'i citizens residing in Isfahan have been sentenced to a total of ten years in prison and fines on charges of 'propagating in favor of opposition groups.' According to the Hengaw Human Rights Organization, Hamid Manzavi and Arshia Rouhani were each sentenced by the First Branch of the Revolutionary Court of Isfahan to five years of imprisonment and a fine of 50 million tomans. Other alleged charges against Manzavi and Rouhani include 'propaganda activities against the government and membership in certain groups with the intent to undermine national security.' These two Baha'i citizens were arrested on September 12, 2023, during a raid by government forces, and two of their business units were sealed and searched, with some of their personal belongings confiscated. A spokesperson for the Baha'i International Community previously stated in an interview with Voice of America that the continued sealing of Baha'i citizens' businesses is an example of widespread violations of Baha'i rights and the 'economic suffocation' imposed by the Iranian government against them. Baha'i citizens in Iran have systematically faced executions, confiscation of property, widespread social and political discrimination, and illegal actions including arbitrary arrests and desecration of their cemeteries since the 1979 revolution. Recently, ten political prisoners in the women's ward of Evin Prison issued a statement declaring that their political views do not prevent them from supporting 'their Baha'i compatriots' and that they stand with them until the end of the 'double suffering' imposed on this group of Iranian citizens. This statement was signed by Mahbubeh Rezaei, Hasti Amiri, Samaneh Asghari, Sakineh Parvaneh, Maryam Yahyavi, Nahid Taghavi, Narges Mohammadi, Anisha Asadollahi, Sepideh Ghalean, and Golrokh Iraei and was published on the Instagram account attributed to Narges Mohammadi on Tuesday, June 18. The statement emphasizes that 'our Baha'i compatriots have been deprived of all social rights for decades of tyranny' and that 'in the 1980s, with the catastrophic elimination of political opponents and dissenters, nearly 300 of them were 'disappeared, missing, or executed' by the government, and 'thousands were also deprived of the slightest social rights and driven out of their homes.' Five Baha'i citizens in Kerman were sentenced to 'fines and social deprivations.' A court session was held to address the charges against Payam Vali, a Baha'i citizen, at the Revolutionary Court in Karaj. The Revolutionary Court in Sari prosecuted three Baha'i citizens.