Three Baha’i women were sentenced to a total of 20 years in prison by a Shiraz court on May 10, 2020. These Baha’i women are at risk of contracting the Coronavirus in Iranian jails.
The Shiraz Revolutionary Court sentenced Bahareh Ghaderi, Nora Pourmoradian, and Niloufar Hakimi to prison for their beliefs.
Bahareh Ghaderi and Nora Pourmoradian were each sentenced to six years, and Niloufar Hakimi to eight years. Niloufar Hakimi had previously been sentenced to five years in prison by a Shiraz court.
In addition, Elaheh Samizadeh and Soodabeh Haghighat, who live in Shiraz, were sentenced to six years each.
Since the beginning of the Iranian new year, several Bahai’s have been sentenced to jail in Iran.
On April 20, 2020, Birjand Court sentenced six Baha’i women – Atieh Salehi, Farzaneh Dimi, Nasrin Ghadiri, Banafsheh Mokhtari, Arezoo Mohammadi, and Roya Maleki – to a total of 36 years in prison because of their religious beliefs.
As the Covid-19 crisis threatens the lives of more prisoners throughout the country, courts in Iran continue to impose jail sentences on women for various reasons, including their religious beliefs.
The clerical regime considers its Baha’is to be heretics who have no religion. Rights groups say authorities routinely arrest members of Iran’s estimated 300,000-strong Baha’i minority community for expressing or practicing their beliefs.
Although Article 23 of mullahs’ Constitution states that “no one may be molested or taken to task simply for holding a certain belief,” followers of the faith are denied many fundamental rights, including access to education, employment, and political office.
The religious dictaorship has repeatedly charged detained Baha’is with national security-related offenses without disclosing evidence.
