Fears are held for the safety of the sister of an Australian Baha’i who has been moved from her cell in a notorious Iranian prison to an even more brutal section of the jail.
One of seven Iranian Baha’i leaders jailed since 2008, Fariba Kamalabadi, 48, is the sister of Australian pharmacy student, Roya Kamalabadi of Melbourne.
Australian Baha’i Community spokesperson Tessa Scrine said today that Fariba Kamalabadi has already been physically threatened since the authorities shifted her to the infamous Section 200 of Gohardasht Prison outside Tehran.
“We have very real fears for Mrs Kamalabadi in this part of the jail which is apparently highly charged with tension among the prisoners,” Ms Scrine said.
Ms Scrine said the transfer of Mrs Kamalabadi, along with another Baha’i leader, Mrs Mahvash Sabet, has raised fears that it has been deliberately orchestrated to put the women in a life-threatening situation.
“It also seems that the authorities wanted to stop them being a source of comfort and hope to other inmates in the cell block where they had been held,” Ms Scrine said.
The two Baha’i women gained international attention last year when they were praised by American journalist Roxana Saberi, who had shared a cell with them.
In her best-seller “Between Two Worlds” about her experiences in an Iranian prison, Ms Saberi said that Mrs Kamalabadi and Mrs Sabet were the two prisoners who inspired her the most.
“They showed me what it means to be selfless, to care more about community and beliefs than about oneself,” Ms Saberi wrote.
Brother of Australian Baha’i
Meanwhile, it has emerged that five male Baha’i leaders, including Behrouz Tavakkoli, a brother of Adelaide Baha’i Amin Tavakkoli, were moved three weeks ago to a high-surveillance wing set aside for political prisoners.
“This part of the prison is even more crowded, and now the men are suffering severe physical deprivation,” Ms Scrine said.
Ms Scrine said the Australian Baha’i Community was grateful to the Australian Government for co-sponsoring a resolution at the UN General Assembly last December that referred to the situation of the Baha’is in Iran, and for speaking out on the topic at the UN Human Rights Council.
The Australian House of Representatives in May 2009 and November 2010 passed bipartisan resolutions condemning the treatment of the seven Baha’i leaders in Iran and called for a halt to the persecution of the Baha’i community and an end to other human rights abuses in Iran.