New Zealand relatives of an Iranian man sentenced to imprisonment and banishment for his Bahai faith say not being able to help is terrible, but they fear being identified could lead to further reprisals against their family in Iran.

The mans aunt, who has lived in New Zealand for around 40 years, said their nephew is one of 26 Bahai sentenced to a total of 85 years in prison.

He was arrested and charged around five years ago, she said.

They were doing voluntary work in villages in Shiraz, teaching the village kids how to read and write, assisting with sanitation projects, and they had permission to do that from the local authorities.

They were put in jail for around three months, then released on bail.

Theyve been living with this ever since, waiting and waiting. They couldnt get on with their normal lives, because they never knew when they were going to be called [back to court].

We don't congregate into our own clusters, we try to live in and be part of the community and serve in the community, in fact, it's one of our tenets, we really try and work for the benefit of communities that we live in. And that's what exactly what these young people were trying to do, his uncle said.

In a statement released earlier in the week, the New Zealand Bahai Community spokesperson Paddy Payne said sentences of between two and five years had been handed down to all 26 members of the group.

The recent prison sentences, exiles and travel bans are the latest in more than 40 years of systematic persecution of Iranian Bahais, Payne said.

The fear of speaking publicly against the Iranian regime, even in a country like New Zealand, is very real to members of the Bahai faith who have come here from Iran.

They would like to express their alarm at having a family member jailed following a campaign by Iranian authorities to uproot the Bahai community in Shiraz, but they are wary of reprisals.

The mans aunt said she hoped to speak with her MP, and believed coverage of the situation was good, despite fears for her family in Iran.

It's good for the world to know whats going on - they haven't committed any crime, it is really not just.

The mans uncle said the sentence will leave his nephews wife and their two young children in a precarious situation.

He's the breadwinner, and he will be out of action for four years, and of course, there's no social welfare system, they just have to rely on family supports.

The thing is they live in fear all the time, not knowing what is going to happen or when it will happen. It's so hard on the children and families.

The situation is ongoing, the mans aunt said, with several more arrests happening recently.

There are waves of this kind of injustice.

Her husband said the Iranian regime doesnt want to appear to be persecuting Bahai for their faith.

When the verdicts are being read they don't mention the faith at all, because they dont want to be seen as openly prejudiced towards a religious minority, but at the same time, its obvious the only reason they are being arrested and imprisoned is because they are Bahai.

Bahai are still very much persecuted in Iran in a general way, for example, Bahai youth cannot enter university, but for Bahai education is very important, so we developed our own educational systems, and even that comes under pressure from the authorities.

The Bahai, which are the largest religious minority in Iran, have long been persecuted, but the mans uncle said it has intensified since the Iranian Revolution in 1979.

All the other minority religions came before Islam and have some recognition, but the Bahai faith came after, and is not recognised by the Islamic state.

The mans aunt said theres almost no chance of being able to bring family members to New Zealand, pointing to Immigration New Zealands refusal to allow other relatives to obtain tourist visas before the pandemic.

Besides, she said, her relatives do not want to leave Iran forever.

They work there, their families and friends are there, its their country, they want to live and serve there, but unfortunately they dont have rights.

The mans uncle said they are in frequent contact with their family in Iran.

Its easier now with encrypted ways of talking to them like Whats App or Zoom, but traditionally, its been very difficult because we know any letters or phone calls can be intercepted quite easily.

I don't think New Zealanders really know what its like, that as a Bahai you can get a prison sentence for doing volunteer work, his aunt said.

The hardest part is that we cant do anything about it.

The mans aunt said while the accused are waiting to hear the result of their appeal, their lives are again in limbo.

She said the group have appealed their sentences, but she is not hopeful this will succeed.

The Bahai faith has been in New Zealand since 1913, and is considered the second most geographically widespread religion on Earth, with more than five million members in over 200 countries, but Iran has one of the largest Baha'i populations in the world.

Originally posted here:

New Zealand Baha'is concerned for nephew imprisoned in Iran - Stuff