The Baha'i Studies Listserv In our continual effort to inform of the situation of the Baha’i community in Iran, earlier today *Iran Press Watch* published several important postings:
1. A translation of Dr. Soheila Vahdati’s recent article in *Iran Emrooz*, in which she courageously supported the human and civil rights of the Baha’i community of Iran; 2. An update on the situation of the Baha’i community of Iran based on today’s postings by BWNS; 3. A Press Release from a recent youth conference in New Zealand in which the participants addressed their concerns to the government of Iran; 4. Several more postings. Iran Press Watch: http://iranpresswatch.org/ ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Iran Press Watch <ney...@iranpresswatch.org> Date: Thu, Jul 23, 2009 at 11:02 PM Subject: Iran Press Watch: The Baha'i Community To: ahang.rabb...@gmail.com Iran Press Watch: The Baha'i Community <http://www.iranpresswatch.org/> <http://fusion.google.com/add?source=atgs&feedurl=http://feeds.feedburner.com/iranpresswatch> ------------------------------ - Update on the Baha’is of Iran<http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&view=js&name=js&ver=oQSANZu1eHs.en.&am=!g-7ZRXWCxC65QfXmwdQ-QmHqeF9UOYLudcjv6u0WOQ#122aab522b30d32e_1> - Iranian Tells of Abuse of Rights<http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&view=js&name=js&ver=oQSANZu1eHs.en.&am=!g-7ZRXWCxC65QfXmwdQ-QmHqeF9UOYLudcjv6u0WOQ#122aab522b30d32e_2> - Paranoia, Utopianism, and Baha’i Persecution in Iran<http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&view=js&name=js&ver=oQSANZu1eHs.en.&am=!g-7ZRXWCxC65QfXmwdQ-QmHqeF9UOYLudcjv6u0WOQ#122aab522b30d32e_3> Update on the Baha’is of Iran<http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/iranpresswatch/~3/LrSiQe9lZyA/4481> Posted: 23 Jul 2009 05:21 PM PDT The Persian page of *Baha’i World News Service* (BWNS) has provided several updates on Wednesday, July 23, 2009, which appear below in translation by *Iran Press Watch*. [image: Haleh and her parents]Shiraz: Temporary leave of two Baha’i youth prisoners <http://news.persian-bahai44.org/2009072302> Haleh Rouhi and Raha Sabet, two Baha’i youth who have been incarcerated since October 2007 on the charge of indirect teaching of the Baha’i Faith under a pretext of social projects, were given a temporary leave from prison on July 14, 2009. This leave is for one week to 10 days. Qa’emshahr: Simin Gorji summoned for interrogation <http://news.persian-bahai44.org/2009072303> On July 7, 2009, two agents of the Ministry of Intelligence went to the home of Mrs. Simin Gorji in Qa’emshahr carrying a letter from the country’s Attorney General, asking her to present herself the following day at the office of the same Ministry in Sari. The following day, Mrs. Gorji went to the office, where she was interrogated. Our previous report regard her trial going to court on July 8, 2009, was incorrect. Bushehr: New updates on Baha’is who have been arrested <http://news.persian-bahai44.org/2009072304> Further to our previous reports regarding Miss Aliyih Jaberi, a resident of Bushehr, we have learned that on July 12, 2009, she was summoned to the Ministry of Intelligence and interrogated for the entire day. Even though at night she was permitted to return to her residence, the interrogation continued on July 13 and 14, and consumed those entire days as well. Previously, we had reported in error that Miss Jaberi was arrested on July 9 along with her father and brother, Asadollah and Amad Jaberi, [see http://www.iranpresswatch.org/post/4349] Tonekabon: Badi’u'llah Abu’l-Fazli completed his prison sentence <http://news.persian-bahai44.org/2009072305> Mr. Badi’u’llah Abu’l-Fazli (or Fazli), a residence of Tonekabon, in the province of Mazandaran, had been serving a prison sentence since March 2, 2009, and was released from incarceration after completing his term. We do not know the exact date of his release. Mr. Abu’l-Fazli was imprisoned on the charge of “active membership in the Baha’i community”, “propagation of the Baha’i faith and activities against the Islamic Republic”, “secretly teaching Muslims through sharing books or other Baha’i materials”. Mr. Abu’l-Fazli was a shopkeeper; in July 2008 he was arrested at work by an agent of the Ministry of Intelligence on unfounded work-related charges. He was taken to the prison facility of Sari, where he was kept for 29 days in solidarity confinement. During the course of his incarceration, he was interrogated 8 times and subjected to verbal abuse and ridicule. Karaj: Special form for Baha’i applicants <http://news.persian-bahai44.org/2009072307> It is reported that the Passport Office in Karaj (in the province of Tehran) has asked Baha’i applicants to complete a special form, which has written at the top, “Biography of a member of the wayward Baha’i sect”. In this form, applicants are asked to fill in such information as their name, occupation, education, address and phone number. In the same form, a section is devoted to the primary and secondary relatives of the applicant, which include the same type of information in addition to the birth certificate number and birth date. Iranian Tells of Abuse of Rights<http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/iranpresswatch/~3/uvqtvtjJ8wg/4469> Posted: 23 Jul 2009 12:42 PM PDT [image: Anisa Memari]By Nicola Brennan Persecuted for her religious beliefs, Anisa Memari left Iran to study in Australia. The 26-year-old Sydney University law and medicine student is now mounting a campaign to raise awareness of the human rights abuses in Iran. Speaking while on holiday in Raglan, Miss Memari told the Waikato Times she was expelled from school because of her Baha’i faith. Baha’i is the largest non-Islamic religion in Iran with more than 300,000 believers. About 4000 Baha’is live in New Zealand. In Iran, Baha’is are “unprotected infidels” and are not protected under the country’s Islamic constitution. “I remember when my teachers told me, ‘If you were a Muslim, you could go to university because your grades are very high. However, because you are a Baha’i you cannot’,” Miss Memari said. Read the article at: Waikato Times <http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/2602736/Iranian-tells-of-abuse-of-rights> View an image at: [image: Anisa_Memari] Paranoia, Utopianism, and Baha’i Persecution in Iran<http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/iranpresswatch/~3/QC6K3pzHMqg/4466> Posted: 23 Jul 2009 09:35 AM PDT By Robert Christian Earlier this week, Iran’s leaders canceled a trial set for the leadership of Iran’s Baha’i community, the Yaran. The seven Baha’i leaders, who had been scheduled for a show trial on charges that could have landed each the death penalty, remain detained without proper legal representation or any regard for their health or basic civil liberties. Iran’s perpetual abuse of its Baha’i community illuminates many aspects of the current Iranian regime: its cruelty, its capriciousness, its ignorance, its hatred, its paranoia, its insecurity, its delusions of grandeur, and countless other deformities. Above all else, it reveals the true nature of the regime’s dangerous and depraved ideology. The current Iranian regime is driven by a revolutionary mentality and guided by Shi’a fundamentalism. These two elements, revolutionism and fundamentalism, fuse together to determine how and why the regime acts as it does. They motivate and shape the nature of tyranny in Iran. The unrelenting mistreatment of members of the Baha’i faith clearly reveals both elements and their interaction. Read this article at: Asia Chronicle<http://www.asiachroniclenews.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=88&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=302&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=2970&hn=asiachroniclenews&he=.com> You are subscribed to email updates from Iran Press Watch<http://www.iranpresswatch.org/> To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now<http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailunsubscribe?k=rkpfeUNHiDpB3CQQbQxg4VvTysY> . Email delivery powered by Google Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 -- Ahang Rabbani, PhD http://ahang.rabbani.googlepages.com/ http://iranpresswatch.org/ __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:arch...@mail-archive.com Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:leave-447614-274...@list.jccc.edu Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to ly...@list.jccc.edu Or subscribe: http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:bahai-st@list.jccc.edu Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st News (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai...@list.jccc.net New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.edu
