- In June 2007, it was learned that a 70-year-old man of limited means had been arrested in April 2007 in Kermanshah. Authorities charged him with the possession of three Bahá’í CDs. He was tried and charged in April 2007 with “propagating and spreading Bahaism and the defamation of the pure Imams.” His lawyer was given only 10 minutes to prepare a defence. Although the verdict has not been published, the judge orally sentenced him to one year in prison, which he is currently serving, and 70 lashes. The latter part of the sentence has not yet been carried out.
- In June 2007, a 34-year-old man was arrested at a hardware store in Tabriz where he worked and taken to an unknown location. Two days later, he succeeded in phoning his family to let them know he was alive. A police security agent contacted Bahá’ís in Tabriz and said some of the man’s neighbours, who are members of the Basiji morality squads, had alleged that he had insulted Islam.
- In May 2007, a husband and wife in Abadeh, near Shiraz, were arrested in their home by agents of the Information Ministry. The agents seized books, family videos, photographs, CDs, telephone directories, documents, a cellular phone, a computer, and minutes of the meetings of the small group of Bahá’ís that coordinates the affairs of the local community on an ad hoc basis. The couple were interrogated about the activities of the Bahá’ís. The wife was released after eight hours; the husband was transferred to Shiraz, where he was held in prison until late June 2007 and released on bail. He is charged with teaching the Bahá’í Faith.
- In early May 2007, the provincial court of appeal of Mazandaran denied the appeal of three women and one man who were arrested in 2005 in Ghaem Shahr and charged with “propagation on behalf of an organization which is anti-Islamic.” The case has been referred to the Supreme Court. All have been released on bail.
- In late April 2007, the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Sari sentenced a Bahá’í to a year in prison and four years of exile to the town of Bijar. The individual was charged with “teaching activities against the system of the Islamic Republic of Iran for the benefit of groups and various organizations opposing the system.”
- During April and May 2007, a number of Bahá’ís were summoned for interrogation or were questioned by telephone by officials of the Ministry of Information or the police in various localities, including in Babol Sar, Bandar Abbas, Bandar Torkman, Bojourd, Gilavand, Damavand, Hamedan, Karaj, Lahijan, Shahinshar, Tehran, and Yaftabad. The questioning focused on seeking information about Bahá’í activities and about the Bahá’ís themselves. A report has been received that a bank in central Jiruft in the province of Fars had been ordered to produce a printout of all accounts held by Bahá’ís.
- The Bahá’í International Community obtained a copy of a letter in which the government agency responsible for providing veterans’ benefits stated that an individual Bahá’í, who suffered extensive disability following his incarceration as a prisoner of war in the Iran-Iraq conflict, was not eligible to pension benefits because he belongs “to the Bahaist sect.”
- Attacks on the Bahá’í Faith continue in the mass media, including on the Internet. Newspapers in Khorasan and Mazandaran have recently published items maligning Bahá’ís, while anti-Bahá’í pamphlets and tracts have been distributed in Shiraz and in the schools in Shahinshar, Ahvazk, and Babol Sar.
- Reports have been received of banks refusing to grant loans and officials refusing to issue or renew business licenses solely on the grounds that the applicants were Bahá’ís. In Sanandaj, a bank official stated that the bank had received 14 loan applications from Bahá’ís, all of which will be rejected. Bank staff in Sari informed Bahá’ís who had applied for a loan, “It has been asked of us not to provide loans and other services to Bahá’ís.”
- In Hamadan, the owner of a grocery store that had been operated by his family for 48 years tried to have the business license transferred to his name after the death of his father. He was told by a government official that business licenses for grocery stores would not be issued to Bahá’ís. He was told: “Wherever you go, even to the United Nations, you will end up here, where you will get the same clear answer.”
Links: http://www.onecountry.org/e191/e19106as_Iran_attacks_story.html
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