Iran again holding Baha’i leaders incommunicado

In spite of the fact that no charges have been filed against them, seven leaders of Iran’s oppressed Baha’i community remain in prison and without access to an attorney, Baha’i World News Service reported on July 4. No contact has been made with the individuals since they were each allowed one brief phone call several weeks ago.

Six of the leaders were arrested in pre-dawn raids on May 14. The seventh was detained in early March. It is thought that the group is being held in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison.

Baha’i spokeswoman Bani Dugal rejected suggestions by Iranian officials that the arrests are “related to security.”

“Such allegations are utterly baseless,” Dugal said. “They are not new, and the Iranian government knows well that they are untrue. The documented plan of the Iranian government has always been to destroy the Baha’i community as a viable entity in Iran, and these latest arrests represent an intensification of this campaign.”

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