Bahai women arrested and sentenced to prison time in Karaj and Isfahan
Unofficial sources in Iran say more than 300,000 Bahai citizens live in Iran. However, the clerical regime’s Constitution does not recognize the Bahai faith as a religion. Bahai citizens are deprived of their right to exercise their religious freedoms. Their rights are systematically violated.
Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights reiterate that everyone is entitled to freedom of religion or change of religion or faith. They also have the right to talk about their faith individually or in groups, openly or secretly.
Nahaleh Shahidi Yazdi arrested and taken to an undisclosed location
Nahaleh Shahidi is a children’s rights activist and one of the Bahai citizens living in Karaj. Security forces arrested her in the train station of Kerman as she was heading back home on Monday, March 28, 2023. She was transferred to an undisclosed location. No information is available on her place of detention and the charges against Nahaleh Shahidi Yazdi.
Nahaleh Shahidi Yazdi had been arrested once before in March 2020 for teaching earthquake-stricken children in Bam, Kerman. The Revolutionary Court of Kerman sentenced her to two years and one year of a suspended sentence.
Parva Behdad receives a jail sentence and complementary punishments
The Revolutionary Court of Isfahan condemned Parva Behdad to three years in prison, two years of ban on leaving the country, 24 million tomans of cash fine, and participating in ideological classes.
Parva Behdad is one of the Bahai citizens living in Isfahan. She was arrested on November 14, 2022. After 21 days of detention in solitary confinement, she was transferred to the Dowlatabad Prison of Isfahan. Eventually, she was released on bail on December 18, 2022.
