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Jun
14
The Baha’i World News Service reports that the ongoing trial of the seven Baha’i leaders imprisoned for more than two years in Iran appears to have concluded after three days of successive court hearings.
The seven appeared in Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran on the morning of Saturday, 12 June and returned to Evin Prison shortly after noon.
The Court was reconvened the next day, as well as this morning.
“We can confirm that a court session was held today in Tehran,” said Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Nations, “and it seems from what we have heard that the trial itself has now concluded. But we have no further information at this time.”
The defendants are Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaie, Mahvash Sabet, Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Vahid Tizfahm.
Worldwide support
Mobile billboard near Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament in central London, showing the seven imprisoned Baha’i leaders of Iran
The plight of the seven Baha’i leaders was highlighted as part of the Global Day of Action on human rights in Iran on 12 June, according to this report from the Baha’i World News Service.
People in more than 80 cities around the world took to the streets to call for an end to human rights abuses in Iran.
In London Unite4Iran circulated a mobile billboard calling for freedom for the Baha’i leaders.
“This is not about party-politics or calls for punitive action,” said one campaigner in Johannesburg, “this is a principled call to respect the human rights of every person.”
In Berlin a group erected a replica prison cell at the city’s historic Brandenburg Gate. A display depicting the seven Baha’i leaders read, “Ideals cannot be locked up. But people with ideals can be. In Iran, these people need your help.”
“For more than two years the seven Baha’i leaders have been under arrest without justification,” said a supporter. “They are imprisoned only because they are Baha’is. Today it is the Baha’is. Tomorrow it could happen to the Sunnis, Jews, Christians or other minorities.”
“I hope we are sending a powerful signal of solidarity to the people in Iran,” said another. “The Iranian people should know that our thoughts are with them.”
Further reports can be read on the http://12june.org and Baha’i World News Service websites.
Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Iran, Global Day of Action, Unite4Iran, London