Information concerning Mr. Ahmad Ali Sabet Sarvestani’s (child of Shokrollah) death in detention was obtained from an interview conducted by the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center with one of his relatives on July 15, 2017. Additional information about this case was obtained from the “Remembering the Martyrs of the Baha’i Faith” program on Baha’i News TV, Baha’i News Magazine (October 30, 2015), the Archives of Baha’i Persecution in Iran website, as well as from documents available at the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center.

Mr. Sabet Sarvestani was one of the 206 individuals whose name was published in the Worldwide Baha’i Community’s 1999 report. This report, entitled “The Baha’i Question: Iran’s Secret Blueprint for the Destruction of a Religious Community”, dealt with the persecution of members of the Baha’i faith in Iran by the Islamic Republic, and contained a list of Baha’is who were killed in Iran since 1979.

Mr. Sabet Sarvestani was born on March 25, 1912 in the town of Sarvestan in Fars Province. His father was a missionary of the Baha’i faith in the town of Sarvestan. He was the youngest member of the family and lost his mother when he was still a child. Mr. Sarvestani first attended “Maktab” (traditional Iranian primary school) and was then sent to [a regular] school. He was married in 1938-39 and had 9 children. In 1944-45, he moved to the Jahrom County’s Khafr District [in Fars Province] and proselytized the Baha’i faith there for 12 years. He was forced to leave the region, however, due to persecution by the people of the district, and moved to Takht-e Jamshid village where he opened a traditional/herbal medicine store, and began work as an herbalist and apothecary. Fifteen years later, he moved to the town of Marvdasht and lived there until his death. Mr. Sarvestani was a member of the Baha’is National Board of Consultation (National Convention)* for 15 years. People close to him describe him as a courageous, resolute and unwavering individual, and an example of a true human being. (Borumand Center interview).

The Baha’is in the Islamic Republic of Iran: Background

The Baha’i religious community is the largest minority group in Iran, with approximately 300,000 members in 1979 (more current figures are not available).**  The authorities of the Islamic Republic have subjected Baha’is religious  to systematic harassment and persecution, depriving them of their most fundamental human rights. The Baha’i religion is not recognized under the Constitution of the Islamic Republic, and Iranian authorities refer to it as a heresy. As a result, the Baha’is have been denied the rights associated with the status of a religious minority; they cannot profess and practice their faith and are banned from public functions. Discrimination under the law and in practice has subjected them to abuse and violence. *** 

Arrest and detention

Mr. Sabet Sarvestani received a summons from the Shiraz Revolutionary Court on December 1, 1982, in which he had been told to appear before the Revolutionary Court’s Assistant Prosecutor’s Office Branch 5 on December 4, 1982, “as a defendant”, in order to “provide certain explanations and clarifications”. (Documentation available at the Boroumand Center). Mr. Sabet Sarvestani was arrested on December 4, 1982, when he went to the Shiraz Revolutionary Court, and was taken to the Shiraz Revolutionary Guards detention center. He was transferred to Shiraz’ Adelabad Prison 6 months later. (Archives of Baha’i Persecution in Iran website).

According to available information, Mr. Sabet Sarvestani did not have access to an attorney. He could hardly walk due to old age, and suffered from diabetes and severe shortness of breath; he was in need of medical attention. In seven months of detention, however, he was deprived of access to medical services and to his medication, and prison authorities did not allow him to be transferred to the hospital. (Archives of Baha’i Persecution in Iran website). Furthermore, signs of torture were perfectly visible on his body. (Boroumand Center interview, Bahainews TV).

Mr. Sabet Sarvestani was allowed visitations with his family during detention. These visitations took place once a week and were in the form of cabin visitation from behind a glass divider. Only four members of his family were allowed at a time inside the prison. His family’s last visitation occurred in late June 1983; he was wheelchair bound at that point.

Trial

Shiraz Revolutionary Court’s Assistant Prosecutor’s Office Branch 5, adjudicated Mr. Sabet Sarvestani’s charges. There is no information regarding the dates and the details of trial session(s).

Charges

According to the person interviewed by the Boroumand Center, there were no other charges against Mr. Sabet Sarvestani than “being Baha’i”.

The validity of the criminal charges brought against this defendant cannot be ascertained in the absence of the basic guarantees of a fair trial.

Evidence of guilt

There is no indication of what evidence and documentation, if any, were presented against Mr. Sarvestani.

Defense

There is no information regarding Mr. Sabet Sarvestani’s defense.

According to the statements made by the representatives of the Baha’i community, the main reason for the arrest and prosecution of adherents of the Baha’i faith is their religious beliefs. The information these representatives have obtained about their brethren indicates that the defendants’ requests to read the content of the case file are usually denied, and even though the defendants are allowed by law to avail themselves of legal representation, attorneys at law are under pressure not to accept any Baha’i clients.

Representatives of the Baha’i community deny charges such as anti-revolutionary political activity or espionage leveled in courts against Baha’is, and note that the constitutive principles of their faith require loyalty to a government and obedience thereto, and prohibits them from any interference in political affairs. These representatives add that espionage for Israel is another one of those baseless charges brought against adherents of the Baha’i faith simply because the Baha’is’ world headquarters is located there, whereas these headquarters were established in that location at the end of the 19th century, years before the establishment of the state of Israel.

Judgment

According to the person interviewed by the Boroumand Center, no sentence was issued for Mr. Sabet Sarvestani.

Mr. Ahmad Ali Sabet Sarvestani’s Death in Detention

Following the deterioration of Mr. Sabet Sarvestani’s health in prison, he was carried out of his cell on another inmate’s shoulders. When prison officials saw Mr. Sabet Sarvestani’s condition, they took charge of him in order to take him to a hospital on the outside. In his memoirs from Shiraz’ Adelabad Prison, one of Mr. Sabet Sarvestani’s ward mates recounts: “…On the night his health deteriorated, [prison officials] would not allow any of us to accompany him to the Prison infirmary. They took him themselves. A few days later, we heard the news of his passing. Prison officials claimed that they had taken him to a hospital outside Shiraz’ Adelabad Prison and that he had passed away there. After a short while, however, the physician’s assistant who was an inmate of [Adelabad Prison’s] Ward 4 and had spent that night with [Mr. Sabet Sarvestani], secretly contacted me and stated that he was in a very bad state on the night in question but that Ward 4’s warden had not authorized him to be [taken to the hospital] and that he had died right there in the Prison infirmary. The [warden] had said, however, to write down that he had died at a hospital outside the prison.” (Bahainews Journal).

According to the person interviewed by the Boroumand Center, a number of Mr. Sabet Sarvestani’s ward mates who were later released had testified that due to the lack of medical attention and the severity of his illnesses, Mr. Sabet Sarvestani’s hands and feet had swollen so much that they had torn up the prison uniform. (Boroumand Center interview).

Mr. Sabet Sarvestani died on June 30, 1983 at Shiraz’ Adelabad Prison. The death certificate issued on July 2, 1983, by the Fars Province Judiciary, states the cause of death as “cardiac arrest”. (Documentation available at the Boroumand Center).

Mr. Sabet Sarvestani’s body was turned over to his family after 3 days and was interred at Shiraz’ Baha’i cemetery. He was 71 years old at the time of his death.

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* In order to elect the members of the National Spiritual Assembly (the highest assembly in the hierarchy of the Baha’i administrative order and the main link between Baha’is and the Baha’i World Center; its members elect the members of the Universal House of Justice, the Bahai’ faith’s high governing body, every 5 years), representatives from various regions of a country are first elected to attend the National Board of Consultation (National Convention). These representatives then elect the members of the National Assembly for a one-year term in secret voting, without advertising, promoting, or declaring any candidates.

** ‘Slow Death for Iran’s Baha’is’ by Richard N. Ostling, Time Magazine,20 February 1984. Also see ‘The Persecution of the Baha’is of Iran, 1844-1984, by Douglas Martin, Baha’i Studies,volume 12/13, 1984, p. 3. There is no information about the current number of Baha’is in Iran.

 ***The Islamic Republic Penal Code grants no rights to Baha’is, and the courts have denied them the right to redress or to protection against assault, murder, and other forms of persecution and abuse. In so doing, the courts have treated Baha’is as unprotected citizens or “apostates,” citing eminent religious authorities whose edicts are considered a source of law equal to acts of Parliament. The Founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khomeini, made execution a punishment for the crime of apostasy and decreed that a Muslim would not be punished for killing an apostate.

Banishment from public functions has seriously damaged the Baha’is’ professional, economic, and social lives. Soon after the revolution, a Ministry of Labor directive called for the dismissal from public office and all governmental organizations and associations of those “who belong to any of the misguided sects recognized by all Muslims as heretical deviations from Islam, or to organizations whose doctrine and constitution are based on rejection of the divinely-revealed religions.” Finally, the mandatory requirement of specifying religion in application forms and official documents (lifted recently in some areas under international pressure) has seriously limited Baha’is’ freedoms and opportunities in all areas of their lives including divorce, inheritance, access to universities and travel.

In practice, since 1980, thousands of Baha’is have lost their jobs, pensions, businesses, properties and educational opportunities. By banning the Baha’i administration including Spiritual Assemblies -  the elected bodies that lead and administer the affairs of Baha’i communities at both local and national levels -  the Islamic Republic has denied Baha’is the right to meet, elect, and operate their religious institutions. Further, the Iranian government has executed at least 200 Baha’is and has imprisoned, tortured, and pressured to convert to Islam scores more. 

Because of the unanimous international condemnation of the persecution of this quietist, apolitical religious community, Iranian authorities do not always admit that the Baha’is are being punished for their religious beliefs. Therefore, judicial authorities have often charged Baha’is with offenses such as “being involved in counter-revolutionary activities,” “having supported the former regime,” “being agents of Zionism,” or “being involved with prostitution, adultery, and immorality.”