Email from the Bahái'i Community
of the UK
In the last 24 hours we have learned that seven
imprisoned Bahái'is who are members of an informal national
leadership committee are to be brought to trial before a Revolutionary
Court in Iran. They face charges that could merit the death sentence,
including "espionage for Israel, insulting religious sanctities
and propaganda against the Islamic Republic".
The Bahái'i community internationally
strongly asserts that the charges against these seven individuals
are completely false and notes that no evidence has been produced
by the Iranian authorities to substantiate the serious allegations
made against the Bahái'is during the 8 months since they
were first detained. We are gravely concerned about the conditions
in which the seven detainees are being held, the denial of access
to their legal counsel, Mrs Shirin Ebadi, and the harassment and
intimidation of Mrs Ebadi since taking on their case.
The Bahái'i community of the UK has already
raised its grave concerns with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
over the fate of these seven innocent Bahái'is. We have
requested the government to formally protest to Iran that the
accusations against the Bahái'is are entirely without foundation
and that they should be released immediately.
We continue to believe that there are those
within Iranian society and even the Iranian establishment who
might be persuaded by international opinion that violating the
human rights of innocent Iranian Bahá'-«s is to the
detriment of their country.
We would wish to emphasise the following points
to the Foreign Affairs Committee:
— The accusations against these Bahái'is
are denied categorically.
— The 7 Bahái'is in question are
members of an ad hoc leadership group, known as "The Friends
in Iran" that has served as a coordinating body for the 300,000
Bahái'is in Iran. The Iranian government has been aware
of their existence for many years and has routinely had dealings
with its members, albeit informally.
— The accusation of "spying"
against these seven Iranian citizens is contrived, and this has
been a pretext used to persecute Bahái'is for more than
three quarters of a century.
— The international headquarters of the
Bahái'i faith is based today within the borders of modern-day
Israel purely as a result of the banishment of the Bahái'i
faith's founder by the Persian and Ottoman Empires in the year
1868, 80 years before the state of Israel was founded.
— It took more than eight months for the
government to accuse these individuals of any crime, during which
time no evidence against them was brought to light.
— At no time during their incarceration
have they had access to their legal counsel, Mrs Shirin Ebadi.
Mrs Ebadi has been harassed, intimidated and threatened since
taking on their case and has not been given access to their case
file.
— The prosecution of the seven Bahái'is
is just one more step in a 30 year long systematic campaign orchestrated
by the Iranian government to eliminate the Bahái'i community
as a viable entity in Iran, the birthplace of their faith.
— Documentary evidence is available of
the Iranian government's campaign against the Bahái'is
and has been brought to light by various UN agencies.
— It is fundamental principal of the Bahái'i
faith that its followers strictly refrain from involvement in
partisan political activity. Bahái'is reject violence,
they are peace-loving and constructive citizens who have no interest
in assuming power.
— The seven Bahái'is facing a revolutionary
trial are innocent. The charges against them should be dropped
immediately.
It would be of great value if this urgent and
critical matter could be discussed at the next meeting of the
Foreign Affairs Committee on 25 February, I shall of course apprise
you of any further developments that may take place in the intervening
period of time.
12 January 2009
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