Total of 10 Years in Prison for Two Baha'i Citizens for 'Educational Activities' in Babol

Two Baha'i citizens in Babol were sentenced by the Islamic Revolutionary Court to a total of 10 years in prison and social deprivation. The media organ of the Human Rights Activists in Iran reported on Wednesday, October 24, that the first branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Babol sentenced Susan Eid Mohammadzadegan and Niyousha Badi'i Sabat, two Baha'i citizens, to five years in prison each and 18 months of prohibition from any educational and developmental activities on charges of 'educational or promotional activities.' The Islamic Republic has deprived followers of the Baha'i faith of the right to education, and judicial authorities have criminalized their educational activities, which are conducted for the education of Baha'is, using terms such as 'deviant' and 'contrary to Islamic principles and beliefs.' Susan Eid Mohammadzadegan and Niyousha Badi'i Sabat were arrested by the intelligence agencies of the Islamic Republic on August 15, 2023, and were released from Babol prison on September 11 of the same year after posting bail, with their first court session held on June 30 of this year in the first branch of the Babol Revolutionary Court. Previously, Mohammad Sadegh Akbari, the head of the judiciary in Mazandaran province, announced the closure of two schools and 10 educational and sports centers in Babol, claiming that the reason was 'promotion of the Baha'i faith by these centers' and introduced the two arrested Baha'i citizens as 'prominent Baha'i educators in Iran.' The website HRANA quoted an informed source as denying this judicial official's claim, stating that 'the number of these centers was ultimately four kindergartens' and 'there was never any religious promotion in these centers, and only education and upbringing of children occurred, with the parents of these children also present in these centers.' In recent days, the global Baha'i community issued a statement warning that the harassment and repression of Baha'is in Iran has intensified, emphasizing: 'The global Baha'i community is alarmingly aware of new instances of the government's ongoing efforts to cleanse Iran of Baha'i history and identity.' According to unofficial sources, over 300,000 Baha'is live in Iran, but the constitutional law of the Islamic Republic not only does not recognize the Baha'i faith but also acts against it. For decades, the judicial authorities of the Islamic Republic have deprived Baha'i citizens of their civil rights, including the right to education, and describe their educational activities outside the government framework with terms such as 'deviant.' Human rights organizations state that the rights of Baha'is in Iran have been systematically violated over the years, and government pressures on them have increased in recent months. The Isfahan Revolutionary Court sentenced 10 Baha'i women to a total of 90 years in prison and confiscation of property. A Baha'i prisoner was deprived of medical care due to 'obstruction' by officials. UN reporters and experts condemned the targeting of Baha'i women by the Islamic Republic. The ongoing repression of Baha'is by the Islamic Republic includes a ban on selling products from companies whose owners are Baha'i. The Isfahan Revolutionary Court retried 15 Baha'i women. A Baha'i couple residing in Gorgan was arrested. A hearing on the charges against 10 Baha'i women in Isfahan; they have been accused of 'propaganda against the regime.'