Australia, Canada Call for Immediate Release Of Imprisoned Baha'is

May 27, 2009

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Bahá’í World News Service

http://news.bahai.org/story/717

The Australian Parliament has called on the government of Iran to release seven imprisoned Baha’i leaders “without delay.”

A motion from the House of Representatives expresses “serious concern” that the detained Baha’is have had no access to legal representation and have not been subject to due legal process.

It also expresses concern about charges of “spying, insulting religious sanctities, and propaganda against the Islamic Republic, and that these charges could attract the death penalty.”

Finally, the motion calls on Iran to “to respect rights to freedom of religion and the peaceful exercise of freedom of expression and association, in accordance with international human rights conventions.”

Six members of Parliament from both major parties spoke in support of the motion, which was approved on 25 May. One of them was Mr. Luke Simpkins.

“I would like to be able to say there has been some progress since I last spoke on this issue,” he said, “but the cause of justice in Iran has only gone backwards in the last few months.

“It has recently been publicized that the Baha’i seven may face another charge, that of spreading corruption on earth, which is in addition to the other charges reportedly laid. It is my firm view that all these charges have no validity and remain inconsistent with the teachings of the Baha’i Faith.”

In Ottawa, the Canadian government also issued a statement, published on 14 May – the one-year anniversary of the imprisonment of six of the seven Baha’i leaders. Minister of Foreign Affairs Lawrence Cannon said his government “calls upon the Iranian authorities to immediately release the seven Baha’i leaders and to cease the harassment of members of the Baha’i Faith.”