Iran Sentences Four Baha'is To 20 Years Jail

The court has given five-year jail terms to Shadi Shahidzadeh, Mansour Amini, Valiollah Qadamian, and Ataollah Zafar, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported on Wednesday.

Notorious judge Iman Afshari, who is under international sanctions over human rights violations, convicted the four Baha'i of "joining illegal groups with the purpose of disrupting the country's security", following a trial held on May 31.

The Court had earlier rejected a request to release the four on bail following their arrest on May 1.

Shahidzadeh is the granddaughter of Ezzat Zarghami whose dead body was kept in a morgue for 31 days after the Intelligence Ministry prevented his family from holding a funeral for him, and was finally buried secretly.

The three others - who are reportedly suffering from underlying health conditions - were also staff members of the cemetery of Tehran's Baha'i community.

Sources earlier told Radio Farda that the Intelligence Ministry had taken the four Baha'i hostage to force the minority group to bury their loved ones in the way Iran's regime wants.

Bahai’s, who number around 300,000 in Iran, are systematically persecuted, discriminated against, and harassed.

They cannot hold jobs and the public sector and have been released from their jobs in the private sector under pressure from authorities.