Past week, another Baha’i citizen was arrested in Damavand and transferred to Evin Prison. This is the second arrest of Baha’i citizens in Damavand in recent week.
According to the Campaign for the Defense of Political and Civil Prisoners, Mariam Laghanei (Forsatipour), a Baha’i citizen, after being summoned to the Damavand Intelligence Office was arrested and transferred to Ward 209 of the Ministry of Intelligence, located in Evin Prison on Tuesday, October 22nd, 2019.
Security officials are said to have gone to her home after the arrest, searched the house, and seized number of her personal belongings, including laptops, her and her husband cell phones.
One day before the arrest of Ms. Laghanei in Damavand, Mitra Forsatipour, a Baha’i resident of Gilavand, a suburb of Damavand, was also arrested at her home on Monday morning of October 21st, 2019.
According to informed Campaign Sources: “On Monday morning, Intelligence Ministry agents with a court order entered the house, and after a house search and seizing some of her personal belongings, such as laptops and telephones, arrested her and transferred her to Ward 209 of the Ministry of Intelligence based in Evin Prison for interrogation. “
According to the informed sources, during the arrest of Ms. Forsatipour, authorities noted that the “propaganda against the system” is the reason for her arrest.
UN human rights reporters have repeatedly protested to the Iranian government on their treatment of Baha’is and believed that it is a clear indication of Iran’s neglect of human rights treaties.
The Islamic Republic’s constitution does not recognize Baha’i as a religion or religion, and therefore the detention and imprisonment of Baha’is continued for four decades.
Mistreatment of Baha’is has intensified in recent years, including the destruction of their cemeteries, arbitrary arrests, home raids, confiscation of property, job dismissal, and deprivation of their basic civil rights. Iranian Baha’i youth are still deprived of their university education, and any university in which Baha’i students’ study, are forced to expel them. Baha’i professionals are denied public office and are discriminated against by private companies for their beliefs. Even those who defend them are attacked.