Free Mahvash Sabet

Mahvash Sabet
21 , January , 2011
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Mahvash Sabet, One of the Leaders of Iran’s Baha’i Community

Mahvash Sabet is a 57 year old Baha’i citizen. Prior to being fired from her public sector job because of her Baha’i faith, Sabet was a teacher and school administrator. For the past 15 years, Sabet headed the Baha’i Institute of Higher Education (Azad Science Institute) providing a venue for higher education for Baha’i students.

Mahvash Sabet was born in Ordestan in 1953 and moved to Tehran when she was in fifth grade. She has her undergraduate degree in Psychology. She began her profession as a teacher and was later promoted to the Head of School. In her capacity as Head of School, Sabet collaborated with Iran’s National Community for Literacy. Like thousands of other Baha’i educators however, after the Islamic Revolution Sabet was also fired from her job and banned from any public teaching position. Sabet and her husband Siavash Sabet have two older children. Sabet is a member of “Yaran-e-Iran” (Iran’s Friends) a group that in the absence of a “National Spiritual Center” handled the administrative requirements of the Baha’i community but was shut down by the Islamic Republic.

Arrest

Mahvash Sabet, one of seven leaders of the Baha’i community in Iran was arrested at her residence on March 8th, 2008 and transferred to solitary confinement at Evin prison’s ward 209 where she endured months of grueling conditions.

Charges and Sentence

Sabet spent many months in solitary confinement at Evin’s ward 209. On February 11th, 2009 Tehran’s Security Court announced that Sabet and the 6 other leaders of the Baha’i community had been charged with “spying for Israel and blasphemy and propaganda against the Islamic Republic”. It is worth mentioning that although Sabet had been charged, her lawyer had not been provided with an opportunity to review her case file.

After approximately 20 months, Sabet’s first trial took place on January 12th, 2010 at the 28th Branch of the Revolutionary Court under Judge Moghiseh. A verdict was not issued during this trial and as a result a second trial was scheduled for a later date. On April 10th, 2009 the trial for Sabet and six other Baha’i leaders did not take place and was once again postponed this time to April 12th, 2010. After months of arrest and postponement the last trial handling the charges against Sabet and 6 other Baha’i leaders finally took place in mid June 2010 and lasted 3 days. In August 2010, the 28th Branch of the Revolutionary Court sentenced Fariba Kamal Abadi to 20 years prison on charges of “spying, acting against the national security of the country, and being a Mohareb (enemy of God). The sentences for Mahvash Sabet and the other six Baha’i leaders who had been illegally kept under temporary detention for more than 800 days were finally reduced to 10 years imprisonment by the Appeals Court in September 2010.