HRANA – six Baha’i women residing in Hamedan—have been collectively sentenced to 38 years and 11 months in prison by Branch 2 of the Hamedan Revolutionary Court.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists in Iran, the sentences were recently issued and formally communicated to the defendants. The charges include “membership in the Baha’i community” and “teaching and promoting activities deemed contrary to Islamic principles.”
The details of the verdict for each individual are as follows:
Neda Mohebi was sentenced to five years in prison for teaching and promoting the Baha’i faith, and an additional two years and eight months for membership in the Baha’i community. Three years of her sentence have been suspended for five years.
Atefeh Zahedi, Farideh Ayoubi, Noora Ayoubi, Zarrindokht Ahadzadeh, and Zhaleh Rezaei were each sentenced to two years and eight months for Baha’i community membership, and three years and seven months for promoting activities against Islamic law. For Noora Ayoubi, Ahadzadeh, and Rezaei, two years of their prison sentences were suspended for five years.
All six were previously released on bail in December 2023 after being detained by security forces on November 7, 2023. They were held in The Ministry of Intelligence’s detention facility in Hamedan. Security forces also searched the homes of Zhaleh Rezaei and Farideh Ayoubi following their arrests.
Over the past decade, the Iranian Bahá’í community has been disproportionately targeted by Iran’s security forces and judiciary—more than any other minority group. In the past three years, an average of 72 percent of the reports on religious rights violations collected by HRANA have documented the Iranian regime’s repression of the Bahá’í community.
