[2914] in Depressing_Thoughts
a kinder, gentler Iran... NOT!
jtidwell@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (jtidwell@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Mon Apr 13 11:40:00 1992
April 9, 1992
PROMINENT IRANIAN BAHA'I EXECUTED--
Islamic Regime Renews Religious Persecution
Washington, D.C.--Representatives of the American Baha'i community
today announced that a prominent Iranian Baha'i, Bahman Samandari,
was secretly executed in Tehran on March 18 and was buried two days
later in an unmarked grave in a Tehran cemetery. Authorities refuse
to disclose the location of the gravesite.
Mr. Samandari, a businessman active in the Baha'i community, is the
first Baha'i executed since December, 1988. No charges have been
announced; there was apparently no trial.
U.S. Baha'i spokesman Firuz Kazemzadeh did not directly link the
execution to tomorrow's Iranian parliamentary elections, but noted
a decades-long pattern by which Iranian authorities facing domestic
or foreign challenges have permitted or encouraged attacks on
Baha'is, Iran's largest religious minority.
The Baha'i Faith is not recognized as a legitimate religion in
Iran and Baha'is have no constitutional rights in Iran. Since the
Islamic regime took power, more than 200 Iranian Baha'is have
been executed on account of their religion.
.
.
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[As far as I can tell, neither of the major Boston newspapers has printed
anything about this, despite the Globe's prominent articles about the
elections and the fact that all other religious minorities in Iran are
getting seats in the government and are being allowed to vote. sigh.]
