HRANA – Two weeks after the arrests of Soraya Manouchehrzadeh, Fakhereh Zahedi, and Shima Sanaei, the three Baha’i citizens remain detained in legal limbo at Tir Kola Prison in Sari.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists in Iran, Soraya Manouchehrzadeh, Shima Sanaei, and Fakhereh Zahedi remain in prison.
Two weeks have passed since the arrest of these three Baha’i citizens, and they continue to be held in legal limbo at Tir Kola Prison in Sari. According to information received by HRANA, they have been permitted to make only one phone call to their families during this period.
An informed source familiar with their situation told HRANA: “According to their families, interrogations of the three citizens at the Ministry of Intelligence’s detention facility in Sari produced no substantial evidence against them. Nevertheless, in recent days, several of their neighbors have been summoned to the Ministry’s intelligence office.”
The families of the three citizens also learned, three days after their arrests, that Amin Nasrollah-Chamani, an investigator with Branch 7 of the Sari Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office, had set bail at two billion tomans for each of them. However, despite the bail being secured and guarantors being introduced, the judicial authority’s administrative office refused to register it.
The detention orders for the three Baha’i citizens were extended for one month in late August.
An informed source had previously told HRANA regarding the manner of Shima Sanaei’s arrest: “At 9 a.m. on Saturday, August 22, approximately 12 Ministry of Intelligence agents broke the lock on Ms. Sanaei’s family home, entered the premises, arrested her, and transferred her to the Ministry of Intelligence office in Sari. At the same time, agents searched her residence and confiscated a number of personal belongings, including religious images, books, and documents. Because Ms. Sanaei’s father was not home, a local shopkeeper who learned of the agents’ presence went to the house and was beaten by them.”
Manouchehrzadeh and Zahedi were also arrested in operations involving multiple security personnel. Approximately 14 agents, five private vehicles, and a representative of the prosecutor’s office were involved in the arrests. During Ms. Manouchehrzadeh’s arrest, agents simultaneously searched her family home and confiscated a number of her personal and electronic belongings.
On Saturday, August 22, Soraya Manouchehrzadeh, Shima Sanaei, and Fakhereh Zahedi were arrested in Sari along with Maral Roshani and Negar Badiei. They were initially taken to a detention facility known as “Keshoui” and were later transferred to Tir Kola Prison in Sari. Maral Roshani and Negar Badiei were released at approximately 7 p.m. that same day after several hours of interrogation.
Soraya Manouchehrzadeh is a Montessori instructor; Shima Sanaei works as a health and personal care products salesperson; and Fakhereh Zahedi is married, a homemaker, and the mother of two young children.
Over the past decade, Iran’s Baha’i community has faced more security and judicial actions than any other religious minority in the country. A review of HRA’s annual reports shows that, over the past year, an average of 62.41% of reports concerning religious minorities involved violations of the rights of Baha’i citizens.
