Baha’i Woman in Mashhad Sentenced to a Year in Prison Her Beliefs

Branch 37 of the Court of Appeal of Khorasan Razavi province has sentenced Noshin Mesbah, a Baha'i resident of Mashhad, to one year in prison on the charge of being a member of the Baha'i community.

Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court of Mashhad, headed by Judge Hadi Mansouri, had previously sentenced Mesbah to three years in prison on the charge of being "a member of a group … with the intention of disrupting national security” due to her Baha'i faith.

She was also sentenced to eight months in prison for "propaganda activities" against the Islamic Republic.

However, the provincial appeals court has reduced the initial sentence. 

According to the decision of the Court of Appeal, Mesbah was sentenced to one year in prison. The court acquitted Mesbah of the charge of "propaganda activities."

Baha'is are routinely denied their fundamental rights to freedom of religion or belief. They face systematic persecution in all areas of life, including arbitrary arrests and imprisonments, home searches and property confiscations, access to education and livelihoods, as well as official hate speech in Iranian media, and even the right to proper burials.