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Lives of service: profiles of seven Baha'i leaders imprisoned in Iran.

Article Excerpt
In early February 2009, reports emerged from Iran that the government was planning to put on trial seven Baha'i leaders, held in Tehran's notorious Evin prison since May 2008.

They are to be accused of "espionage for Israel, insulting religious sanctities and propaganda against the Islamic republic," according to a report in Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency on 11 February 2009.

The Baha'i International Community, which has all along decried their arrest and imprisonment as unjust, immediately stated that such accusations are false, reiterating that the seven were being held solely because of their religious beliefs.

The news stirred an international outcry, with protests coming from governments, human rights groups, and others. The European Union, for example, issued a strong statement expressing "deep concern" over a possible trial and the US Department of State called the charges against the Baha'is "baseless."

Amnesty International, among other organizations, issued an "urgent action" appeal on behalf of the seven, calling for their "immediate and unconditional release." Hundreds newspapers and other media outlets around the world carried the story.

During the more than ten months the seven have been held in prison, no evidence against them has been brought to light. Further, at no time during their incarceration have the accused been given access to their legal counsel, Mrs. Shirin Ebadi. Mrs. Ebadi has herself been threatened, intimidated, and vilified in the news media since taking on their case and has not been given access to their case files.

As of press time, no trial date had as yet been set by the government, nor had further information emerged about the possible charges against them.

All have served both Iranian society and the Baha'i community extensively. As well, like most Iranian Baha'is, they have all experienced varying degrees of persecution since the Islamic Republic of Iran was established in 1979.

Their ongoing imprisonment--and pending trial--is particularly alarming because of their leadership position as members of a national-level coordinating group known as the "Friends in Iran." Some 25 years ago, other Baha'i leaders were executed after being rounded up in a manner similar to the way in which these seven were arrested last year. Moreover, the government is well aware that the charges against the seven are false. After all Baha'i elected and appointed institutions were banned in the early 1980s, the "Friends" was formed with the full knowledge of the government....

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