7 National Leaders of the Baha'is of Iran Under Arrest - Day 20

For the past few days, I've been involved in exchanging comments on two news websites re the arrest of the 7 national leaders of the Iranian Baha'i community. You can read them at:

http://www.economist.com/world/africa/...
&
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2008/05/... (by the way, I love the post made by "I'm Nonpartisan"). You've got to read it!

On a positive note, there have been a few very high level petitions to the Iranian government re the arrest of the "Friends in Iran" (the 7 member representatives of the Iranian national Baha'i community - 6 of whom were arrested on 14th May with the 7th member held in custody since March). Here are the links:

• Human Rights Watch and International Federation of Human Rights have issued a joint statement: http://hrw.org/english/docs...
• International Commission of Jurists: http://www.icj.org/news.php3...

Of course Amnesty International, the EU, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro and Serbia, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Canada, Australia, USA, to name but a few have already voiced their support for the release of these innocent 7.

May these friends be released as soon as possible, or brought in front of open court so that the world can hear what made up allegations are brought up against the Baha'is in Iran.

Welcome!

Dear Friend (definition of a Friend: a stranger we don't know yet!),

Thank you for dropping by!

For my first post, it's only polite to say what prompted my to start this Blog, no?! Well, it all came about from the arrest and imprisonment of the 6 national leaders of the Baha'is (www.bahai.org) of Iran on May 14th 2008 (the 7th member was arrested a few months earlier). I felt so strongly that this clear injustice and cruelty (they are for sure being tortured as I'm writing this) that I decided to do my little bit to bring this information to the attention of as many people as I can (http://news.bahai.org/story/635). Hence this Blog. By the way, these recent arrests are also a prelude to a wider and more systematic persecution of the Baha'is of Iran (http://question.bahai.org).

This log will primarily try to share news re the situation of the Baha'is in Iran. However if I find the time I will share my thoughts and comments about other things too! Of course, I also look forward to hearing of yours too. After all:

"The shining spark of truth cometh forth only after the clash of differing opinions." (Baha'i Writings)

Lots of love,
Mehyar

ps Please note the differing "opinions" not "personalities"! Thank you! ;-)