Baha’i Woman Sentenced to Almost Four Years in Prison

An Iranian Revolutionary Court has sentenced Shohreh Salekian, a Baha'i citizen living in Mashhad, to three years and eight months in prison. 

Salekian was charged with "membership in a group with the aim of disrupting national security" and "propaganda against the system." 

She was sentenced to three years in prison for the first charge and eight months in prison for the second charge.

According to Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, only the longest punishment of three years will be applied if the sentence is upheld on appeal.

Salekian is one of seven Baha'i women who have been sentenced to three years and eight months in prison in the past month by the first branch of the Revolutionary Court of Mashhad. These preliminary rulings are under appeal.

The Baha'i faith is not a recognized religion in Iran and since the 1979 Islamic Revolution its adherents have faced systematic persecution from the Iranian government.