Jan13
BWNS: World reacts to trial of seven Baha’i leaders
The trial of seven Iranian Baha’i leaders, which began January 12, has drawn widespread attention from the international community. According to a Baha’i World News Service article published today, public statements of concern on behalf of the seven have been issued by the governments of Brazil, Canada, India, the United States, and by the European Union. Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Laureate and the lead attorney defending the seven Baha’is, also commented about yesterday’s trial proceedings in an interview with Washington TV, a web-based news service based in the United States.
Below are excerpts of her statements as reported by the Baha’i World News Service:
“If justice is to be carried out and an impartial judge should investigate the charges leveled against my clients, no other verdict can be reached save that of acquittal,” said Mrs. Ebadi, in comments posted on WashingtonTV.
Mrs. Ebadi, who is one of the lawyers for the seven, said she had carefully read the dossier of charges against them and “found in it no cause or evidence to sustain the criminal charges upheld by the prosecutor.”
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In the WashingtonTV interview, Mrs. Ebadi, who is currently outside Iran, also offered a glimpse of what happened yesterday inside Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court, where the “first session” of the trial was held.
She said only two lawyers of the Defenders of Human Rights Center, which she established, were able to be present in the court. And that in spite of a request for an open hearing, the court was closed.
The charges against the seven were reiterated yesterday in news accounts in government-sponsored news media. They were given as: espionage, “propaganda activities against the Islamic order,” the establishment of an illegal administration, cooperation with Israel, the sending of secret documents outside the country, acting against the security of the country, and “corruption on earth.”
Diane Ala’i of the Baha’i International Community said the seven have consistently and categorically denied such accusations. “We can be certain that they also did so in front of the judge yesterday,” she said.
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