Tag: Peyman Maanavi

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.

Baha’i Arrests in Iran; 20 and Counting

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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.