Yesterday we found out that the seven pictured above, the former ad hoc coordinating group for the Baha’is in Iran, had gone on trial. They’d been held without formal charge in Evin Prison in Tehran since Spring 2008. Iranian government-sponsored media repeated the charges against the Baha’is:
- 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.”
The seven have firmly denied the charges.
Apparently yesterday’s hearing, which the authorities have stated is the first of a number of sessions, was marked by a number of legal violations.
Governments, prominent individuals and the media worldwide have reacted strongly to the trial. Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi called for their immediate release and ultimate acquittal.
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.”
Cherie Blair in an interview today with the BBC World Service called for the release of “this group of people who live a religion which preaches peace and did nothing whatsoever to deserve this trial.”
This is an outrageous abuse of the human rights of these innocent Baha’is. We shall now have to wait for the next session of the Revolutionary Court that is trying them.
Read the Baha’i World News Service stories here and here.
Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Iran, human rights, trial, Cherie Blair, Shirin Ebadi
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