Tag: Payam Shabani

Report on Mass Release of Prisoners in the Past 24 Hours

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Freedom of Expression, News
Akbar Azadifar, Anis Mohammadi, Bahareh Soleimani, Beniamin Moghaddasi, Elham Salmanzadeh, Hadi Sepehri, Jamileh Pakroo, Kianoosh Salmanzadeh, Mehrnoosh Zarei Hanzaki, Mohammad Turkmani, Mojgan Ilanlu, Mojtaba Esmaili, Monireh Arabshahi, Nazanin Mohammadnejad, Neda Shabani, Parvan Ma'anavi, Payam Shabani, Peyman Maanavi, Peyman Pourdad, Reza Khandan Mahabadi, Reza Mohammad Hosseini, Saeed Allahverdi, Soheil Yadollahi, Soroush Agahi, Yasaman Aryani

The mass releases of prisoners continued in the past 24 hours, as several prisoners of conscience were released from different prisons across the country.

Of these freed prisoners, the most known prisoners are:

  1. Documentary filmmaker Mojgan Ilanlu from Evin Prison
  2. Nazanin Mohammadnejad, a student at Allameh Tabataba’i University, from Evin Prison
  3. Political prisoner Bahareh Soleimani from Evin Prison
  4. Journalist Mehrnoosh Zarei Hanzaki from Evin Prison
  5. Civil rights activist Monireh Arabshahi from Kachooie Prison
  6. Civil rights activist Yasaman Aryani from Kachooie Prison
  7. Soheil Yadollahi from Bojnurd Prison
  8. Saeed Allahverdi, arrested at recent protests, from Adel-Abad Prison, Shiraz
  9. Political prisoner Reza Mohammad Hosseini from Rajai Shahr Prison
  10. Political prisoner Reza Khandan Mahabadi from Rajai Shahr Prison
  11. Political prisoner Peyman Pourdad from Rajai Shahr Prison
  12. Political prisoner Mohammad Turkmani from Rajai Shahr Prison
  13. Akbar Azadifar, arrested at recent protests, from Kuhdasht Prison
  14. Beniamin Moghaddasi, a student at the University of Tehran

Moreover, following the approval to “pardon and commute” the sentence of some prisoners, the legal cases against Hadi Sepehri, arrested at recent protests, Mojtaba Esmaili (Nima), a member of the Society of Students Against Poverty, and Anis Mohammadi were closed.

Also, Baha’i citizens Soroush Agahi, Peyman Ma’anavi, Parvan Ma’anavi, Jamileh Pakroo, Elham Salmanzadeh, Kianoosh Salmanzadeh, Neda Shabani and Payam Shabani, who were serving their sentences outside the prison with electronic tags, were set free and the restrictions were removed.

Details of these prison releases are still unknown. They are, however, likely released under recent approval to “pardon and commute” the sentence of some prisoners.

Earlier, the head of the Judiciary proposed to pardon or commute the sentences of some prisoners as an enactment of Article 110, paragraph 11 of the constitution, which was approved by Ali Khamenei under some conditions which the legal case should meet. Judicial authorities have not yet provided statistics about the number of pardoned prisoners.

One Year Home Detention Given to Nine Baha’i Citizens

Posted on by A MN
News, Religious Minorities
Elham Salmanzadeh, Evin Prison, Hooman Khoshnam, Jamileh Pakro, Kianoosh Slamanzadeh Soroosh Agahi, Neda Shabani, Parvan Manavi, Payam Shabani, peyman manavi, Shahriar

On August 2, 2022, the one-year sentences of nine Baha’is were carried out in the form of home detention using an electronic monitoring device. Previously, the Revolutionary Court of Shahriar had sentenced each of the individuals to one year in prison. These verdicts were upheld on appeal.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, on July 2, 2022, nine Baha’i citizens, Hooman Khoshnam, Elham Salmanzadeh, Payam Shabani, Kianoosh Slamanzadeh Soroosh Agahi, Parvan Manavi, Jamileh Pakro, Peyman Manavi and Neda Shabani started serving their one-year sentence as home detention using the electronic monitoring device.

According to this verdict, these individuals can go up to 500 meters in the periphery of their residence, and they have to pay for the monitoring devices.

These individuals have been detained in Ward 209 of Evin Prison from September to December 2018, In August 2020, Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court of Shahriar convicted them for “propaganda against the regime through promoting the Baha’i faith.”

Still no Answers for Sequestered Baha’is of Karaj

Posted on by admin-hr
Ethnic Minorities, Prisoners
baha'is in iran, bahais karaj, Elham Salmanzadeh, Hooman Khoshnam, iran human rights, Jamileh Pakrou, Kianoush Salmanzadeh., Maryam Ghaffarmanesh, Parvan Manavi, Payam Shabani, peyman manavi

Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) – Thirty days have passed since security forces first swept through Karaj and began arresting its Baha’i residents, sending eight of them to prison after inspections of their homes between September 16th and October 17th.

From the walls of Evin Prison, these eight await definitive answers to why, and for how long, they will have to stay there. They were previously identified as Parvan Manavi, Elham Salmanzadeh, Hooman Khoshnam, Payam Shabani, Peyman Manavi, Maryam Ghaffarmanesh, Jamileh Pakrou (Mohammad Hossein) and Kianoush Salmanzadeh.

“The Baha’i detainees said over the phone that they had been transferred to Evin Prison […],” an informed source told HRANA. “Despite inquiries from their families, no information is currently available regarding their status.”

Parvan Manavi and Elham Salmanzadeh became the seventh and eighth Baha’is to be arrested in Karaj after authorities confiscated some of their books and personal belongings during a raid of their homes Tuesday, October 16th. Khoshnam and Shabani were arrested on September 25th and 26th of this year, and Peyman Manavi, Kianoush Salmanzadeh, Ghafarmanesh, and Pakrou were arrested September 16th.

The threat of arbitrary detainment loomed larger than ever over Iran’s Baha’i religious minority this past month, as Iran’s security and judiciary establishment whisked away a number of its members in a surge of arrests that has yet to be explained. HRANA also reported on the arrests of Baha’i citizens in the central cities of Shiraz and Isfahan over this time period.

Iranian Baha’i citizens are systematically deprived of religious freedoms, while according to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, everyone is entitled to freedom of religion and belief, and the right to adopt and manifest the religion of their choice, be it individually, in groups, in public, or in private.

Based on unofficial sources, more than 300,000 Baha’is live in Iran. Iran’s constitution, however, recognizes only Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism, and does not acknowledge the Baha’i faith as an official religion. Consequently, the rights of Baha’is are systematically violated in Iran.

Baha’i Arrests in Iran; 20 and Counting

Posted on by Sara
Religious Minorities
Afshin Bolbolan, Anush Rayneh, Baha'i, baha'i arrests iran, Bahareh Ghaderi, Bahareh Zeini (Sobhanian), Ehsan Mahbub-Rahvafa, Elaheh Samizadeh, Farhang Sahba, Fuzhan Rashidi, Hooman Khoshnam, Jamileh Pakrou, Kianoush Salmanzadeh., Maryam Ghaffaramanesh, Milad Davardan, Navid Bazmandegan, Noora Pourmoradian, Payam Shabani, Peyman Maanavi, Saham Armin, Sepideh Rouhani, Sudabeh Haghighat

UPDATE: Hooman Khoshnam was released from prison on bail on October 29, 2018.

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Hooman Khoshnam, a Baha’i resident of Karaj, became the sixth Baha’i citizen to be arrested by Ministry of Intelligence security forces in the city on September 25th, 2018.

In addition to arresting him, security forces also sealed the door to Khoshnam’s workplace. Khoshnam’s arrest is the latest in a series intensified persecution of Baha’i citizens, thus far affecting 20 citizens in Karaj, Shiraz, and on the outskirts of Isfahan.

Before Khoshnam’s arrest, Payam Shabani, another Baha’i resident of Karaj, was arrested by security forces only one day earlier on September 24th. HRANA also reported on the arrest and transfer to Evin Prison of four other Baha’i Karaj residents on September 16th: Peyman Maanavi, Maryam Ghaffaramanesh, Jamileh Pakrou, and Kianoush Salmanzadeh.

A close source told HRANA that “Maryam Ghaffarmanesh, Jamileh Pakrou, and Kianoush Salmanzadeh – participants in an environmental education session led by Ghaffarmanesh and hosted in the private residence of Ramin Sedghi – were arrested when intelligence agents showed up demanding their cell phones and pressing them to fill out personal information forms.”

The source said that after the search of Sedghi’s personal property, including his hard drive, pamphlets, and religious materials, agents moved on to search Pakrou’s residence. Ghaffarmanesh, Pakrou, and Salmanzadeh were then transferred to Evin Prison. Ghaffarmanesh’s family learned of her bail some 20 hours later, on a call with her from ward 209 of the prison.

HRANA reported on the arrest of six Baha’i Shiraz residents on September 15th and 16th: Sudabeh Haghighat, Noora Pourmoradian, Elaheh Samizadeh, Ehsan Mahbub-Rahvafa, and married couple Navid Bazmandegan and Bahareh Ghaderi.

HRANA also covered the arrests of eight Baha’i residents of Baharestan, a newly-built city about 18 miles south of Isfahan, on September 23rd and 24th. The detainees were Saham Armin, Afshin Bolbolan, Anush Rayneh, Milad Davardan, Farhang Sahba, Bahareh Zeini (Sobhanian), Sepideh Rouhani and Fuzhan Rashidi.

Iranian Baha’i citizens are systematically deprived of religious freedoms, while according to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, everyone is entitled to freedom of religion and belief, and the right to adopt and manifest the religion of their choice, be it individually, in groups, in public, or in private.

Based on unofficial sources, more than 300,000 Baha’is live in Iran. Iran’s Constitution, however, only recognizes Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism, and does not acknowledge the Baha’i faith as an official religion. Consequently, the rights of Baha’is are systematically violated in Iran.

Fifth Baha’i Karaj Resident Detained

Posted on by Sara
Religious Minorities
Baha'i, baha'i arrests iran, Bahareh Ghaderi, Ehsan Mahbub-Rahvafa, Elaheh Samizadeh, Navid Bazmandegan, Noora Pourmoradian, Payam Shabani, Sudabeh Haghighat

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – The crackdown on Iran’s Baha’i community continued September 24th with the arrest of Payam Shabani, a Baha’i resident of Karaj, a northwest suburb of Tehran.

Shabani became the latest Baha’i citizen to be arrested by authorities at his home in Karaj, bringing to five the total number of Baha’i Karaj resident arrested so far. On September 16th, HRANA reported on the arrest and transfer to Evin Prison of Peyman Maanavi, Maryam Ghaffaramanesh, Jamileh Pakrou, and Kianoush Salmanzadeh.

A close source told HRANA that “Maryam Ghaffarmanesh, Jamileh Pakrou, and Kianoush Salmanzadeh – participants in an environmental education session led by Ghaffarmanesh and hosted in the private residence of Ramin Sedghi – were arrested when intelligence agents showed up demanding their cell phones and pressing them to fill out personal information forms.”

The source said that after the search of Sedghi’s personal property, including his hard drive, pamphlets, and religious materials, agents moved on to search Pakrou’s residence. Ghaffarmanesh, Pakrou, and Salmanzadeh were then transferred to Evin Prison. Ghaffarmanesh’s family learned of her bail some 20 hours later, on a call with her from ward 209 of the prison.

Baha’i citizens in various cities of the country in recent weeks have faced increasing pressure from the Iranian judiciary and security establishment. In recent weeks, HRANA also reported on the arrests of Baha’i citizens by security forces in the central cities of Shiraz and Isfahan.

In Shiraz, HRANA reported on the September 15th and 16th arrests of Baha’i residents Sudabeh Haghighat, Noora Pourmoradian, Elaheh Samizadeh, Ehsan Mahbub-Rahvafa, and married couple Navid Bazmandegan and Bahareh Ghaderi.

HRANA also reported on the arrest of eight Baha’i residents of Baharestan, a newly-built city about 18 miles south of Isfahan, on September 23rd and 24th: Saham Armin, Afshin Bolbolan, Anush Rayneh, Milad Davardan, Farhang Sahba, Bahareh Zeini (Sobhanian), Sepideh Rouhani and Fuzhan Rashidi.

Iranian Baha’i citizens are systematically deprived of religious freedoms, while according to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, everyone is entitled to freedom of religion and belief, and the right to adopt and manifest the religion of their choice, be it individually, in groups, in public, or in private.

Based on unofficial sources, more than 300,000 Baha’is live in Iran. Iran’s Constitution, however, only recognizes Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism, and does not acknowledge the Baha’i faith as an official religion. Consequently, the rights of Baha’is are systematically violated in Iran.

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