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TRANSCRIPT
From her home in Melbourne, Emilia Nazari clings to hope that her cousin Peyvand Naimi, a follower of the Baha'i faith, imprisoned in Iran, will be spared.
“He was subjected to continuous torture for three days. He was physically beaten ... And he's been subjected to mock executions. All of this because they're trying to get him to confess to things that he has not done.”
Naimi was arrested during Iran's most recent round of protests that were sparked by economic issues.
He is being held on charges that Emilia says are fabricated.
“False accusations that he's been involved in the death of three security forces.It's impossible for him to have committed that offence because at the time of the alleged deaths, he was already in detention.”
Peyvand Naimi's cousin, Borna Naimi, has also been imprisoned since March, and has reportedly endured at least two mock executions.
Human rights advocates say they are being persecuted because of their faith.
This is Daniela Gavshon, Australia director at Human Rights Watch.
“We are seeing an intensified crackdown on Baha'i citizens in Iran. We saw it after the June conflict with Israel, we've seen a lot of people charged, as, you know, alleged spies or conspirators with the state of Israel, and we certainly are seeing that same narrative being pushed again.”
According to human rights groups, Iran's Baha'i community has been systematically persecuted since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, at a level the United Nations says constitutes crimes against humanity.
Awa Momtazian, a spokesperson for the Australian Baha'i community, says there is ample evidence to support this.
“It has included executions. It included forced confessions. It's included, harassment, torture, the denial of livelihoods ... Access to higher education ... All of this has been, attempts by the Iranian authorities to coerce the Baha'is, to abandon their beliefs.”
The Baha'i community is considered the largest non-Muslim religious minority in Iran, with an estimated population of 300,000.
There are at least 20,000 people who identify as Baha'i in Australia - With estimates of more than 10 per cent of Australia's Iranian diaspora are followers of the faith.
This is Momtazian again.
“We believe Iranians of any religion, of any ethnicity, of any background have the inherent right to contribute to the future of their country.”
Baha'is are not the only group facing persecution and the risk of death penalty in Iran.
Since 2020, Iran has seen a steady rise in the use of capital punishment.
Gavshon says the regime is looking to send a message with these executions.
“It's really sending the most horrific warning signal to anyone who seeks to be a political dissident or a human rights defender that action will be met with the most final possible punishment, which is execution.”
For Awa Momtazian, peace and unity are central principles of her faith,
And she says it's this hope for a better future - that binds the Baha'i community together.
“No repression can essentially rob the convictions inside someone's heart, their desire for freedom, their desire for justice, their desire to live a life according to dignity.”
