Persecution of Bahá'ís in Iran

The release of an open letter from two Nobel Peace Prize winners regarding the Baha’i Institute for Higher Education coincided with the first round of trials for imprisoned staff members of the beleaugured Institute. Laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu and East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta called for an end to education discrimination in Iran in a [...]

Baha’i World News Service– The harsh prison sentences handed down to seven Iranian Baha’i leaders who are absolutely innocent of any wrongdoing is a judgment against an entire religious community, the Baha’i International Community said today. Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi, whose Defenders of Human Rights Center represented the Baha’i defendants, said she was “stunned” by [...]

On March 8, the RFE/RL blog “Watchdog” published a Q&A with D.C.-area Baha’i Sovaida Ma’ani Ewing about the persecution of Iran’s Baha’i religious minority. The interview specifically addresses the ongoing trial of seven Baha’i leaders, which is expected to continue in Tehran on April 10, 2010. Here’s an excerpt of the interview… RFE/RL: For the [...]

On January 24-45, News X of India broadcast an in-depth documentary series on the persecution of Iran’s Baha’i community. The series includes an interview with human rights attorney and Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi, who is the lead defender of seven Baha’is currently on trial in Tehran. View the series on YouTube: Part 1 Part 2 [...]

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 [...]

On October 22, the Committee of Human Rights Reporters published an interview with Iranian human rights attorney, Abdolfattah Soltani, who along with Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi, is one of the lead attorneys defending the seven Baha’is currently awaiting trial in Tehran. Read the original interview (in Farsi) from the Committee of Human Rights Reporters Read [...]

The trial of seven Baha’i leaders in Iran, which, following previous postponements, was most recently scheduled to take place on Oct. 18, 2009, will likely be delayed again. No future trial date is known at this time. Although family members of the seven Baha’i prisoners have not been informed of any change to the trial [...]

GENEVA — The trial of seven Baha’i leaders imprisoned in Iran has been postponed until October 18, 2009, the Baha’i International Community learned today. According to Diane Ala’i, the Baha’i International Community representative to the United Nations in Geneva, following a request for postponement of the trial from Mr. Hadi Elsmaielzadeh and Ms. Mahnaz Parakand [...]

In an article published online by CNN on August 13, Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi called for the release seven Baha’i prisoners falsely accused of espionage and other crimes. Ebadi, who is the senior attorney registered with the court to defend the Baha’is, said Iranian authorities do not have any evidence against the seven prisoners.

WASHINGTON — Today, August 15, Mr. Hassan Haddad of Tehran’s prosecutor office confirmed that the trial of seven Baha’i leaders falsely accused of “espionage for Israel, insulting religious sanctities and propaganda against the Islamic Republic,” will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2009. The Bahá’í International Community categorically denies all the charges, at least one of which [...]

The seven Baha’i leaders, with spouses, before their arrest in Spring 2008. Photo courtesy of Baha’i World News Service. WASHINGTON, D.C. — Following last week’s show trial of post-election protesters in Iran, seven Baha’i leaders face yet another failure of legal due process as they prepare to stand trial Aug. 18, 2009, on a series [...]

Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) have called for the release of seven Baha’i leaders who may face trial tomorrow, July 11, 2009, in Tehran. Ms. Saberi stated, in a letter to the Commission, The seven Baha’is, along with at least 20 other Baha’is imprisoned across Iran, are [...]

A message from the Baha’i International Community in the words of Baha’u’llah, the founder of the Baha’i Faith: “We entreat God to deliver the light of equity and the sun of justice from the thick clouds of waywardness, and cause them to shine forth upon men. No light can compare with the light of justice. [...]

CNN International today published the following story: Baha’is say jailed leaders in Iran face harsh new accusation

NEW YORK,  May 12, 2009 (BWNS) – The seven Baha’i leaders currently imprisoned in Iran are facing the anniversary of their arrest this Thursday, along with new and extremely grave accusations, after spending a year in jail without formal charges or access to their lawyer, Shirin Ebadi.

Download high resolution photo A spokesman for Iran’s Judiciary, Ali-Reza Jamshidi, announced on 17 February that the seven Baha’i leaders would have court hearings within a week on charges of espionage,but no specific hearing date was ever announced. They have been charged with spying for Israel, insulting religious sanctities and propaganda against the Islamic Republic. [...]

Peace activists have called on the Iranian government to ensure the safety of Shirin Ebadi, the epicenter of human rights activism in Iran and lawyer for the seven Baha’i leaders soon to be on trial. You can read the letter and learn more about this initiative at the Campaign for Peace and Democracy website.

TEHRAN (AFP) – An aide of Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi who was arrested in January for links with the banned Bahai faith has been freed on bail by the Iranian Authorities, Ebadi told AFP on Friday.

Iran VNC has reported on the release of Ms. Jinous Sobhani, a Baha’i who had worked at the Tehran office of the Center for the Defense of Human Rights, run by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi.

The UK’s Channel 4 News interviewed Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr. Shirin Ebadi on February 18, about the harassment she suffers in Iran partly because of her defense of the seven Baha’i leaders currently in jail and facing trial in Tehran.