{"id":1338,"date":"2015-12-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-04T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/news\/jailing-parents-of-six-year-old-an-outrage\/"},"modified":"2017-10-14T04:51:12","modified_gmt":"2017-10-14T04:51:12","slug":"jailing-parents-of-six-year-old-an-outrage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/jailing-parents-of-six-year-old-an-outrage\/","title":{"rendered":"Jailing parents of six-year-old an \u2018outrage\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jailing
Azita Rafizadeh and her husband, Payman Koushk-Baghi, holding their son, Bashir, in an undated photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The ongoing threat by Iranian authorities to imprison the father of a six-year-old boy whose mother is already jailed for her faith is an outrage, Australian Baha\u2019i Community spokesperson Natalie Mobini said today.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr Mobini said both parents had been arrested for educating Baha\u2019i youth who are banned from university by the authorities solely because of their religious beliefs.<\/p>\n

In October, Azita Rafizadeh, an IT lecturer, began her five-year jail sentence and now her husband, Payman Koushk-Baghi, is also facing imprisonment for his work with the Baha\u2019i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE).<\/p>\n

Dr Mobini said that if Mr Koushk-Baghi went to jail their primary school age son Bashir would be without parental care and would have to be looked after by others.<\/p>\n

\u201cDepriving a child of the care of his parents would be an outrage and a shocking outcome of the decision by the authorities to jail Baha\u2019is for teaching academic subjects,\u201d Dr Mobini said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIran should release Mrs Rafizadeh immediately and withdraw the threats to her husband and abide by international human rights law which makes it a crime to prevent students having access to higher education, not a crime to offer it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Australian link<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of Mrs Rafizadeh\u2019s former students, Maryam (not her real name), is now a citizen of Australia and an IT specialist.<\/p>\n

Maryam was taught about computer operating systems by Mrs Rafizadeh, who she remembers as a very organised and helpful lecturer.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe would always come with a proper lesson plan and assignments,\u201d Maryam said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was not a paid job for her but a service which was done after hours and at weekends. I am very grateful to her and am appalled that such a wonderful teacher is jailed rather than honoured for her work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raids<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mrs Rafizadeh and Mr Koushk-Baghi, who are from Karaj, were among more than 16 Baha\u2019is who were arrested in May 2011 when Iranian authorities raided more than 30 homes targeting individuals supporting BIHE.<\/p>\n

In May 2014, they were both summoned to appear in court. Mr. Koushk-Baghi was sentenced to five years and Mrs. Rafizadeh to four years imprisonment.<\/p>\n

The case of Bashir and his parents is not an isolated incident. Previously, Mr Kamran Rahimian and his wife, Ms Faran Hessami, also associated with the BIHE, were both imprisoned, leaving their two year old child in the care of relatives.<\/p>\n

Murals<\/strong><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, striking murals are appearing on walls of buildings in Australia and around the world to highlight the ban on higher education for Baha\u2019is. It is all being done with the consent of the owners. Photographs of the murals are appearing widely on social media.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week a mural featuring Iran’s national bird, the nightingale, was painted on the wall of Sydney <\/a>restaurant Lentil as Anything<\/em> to draw attention to the ongoing denial of access by Baha\u2019is to Iranian universities.<\/p>\n

Visit the website of the international murals campaign #notacrime, highlighting the right to education for Baha’is in Iran.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The ongoing threat by Iranian authorities to imprison the father of a six-year-old boy whose mother is already jailed for her faith is an outrage, Australian Baha\u2019i Community spokesperson Natalie Mobini said today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media-releases","category-uncategorised"],"yoast_head":"\nJailing parents of six-year-old an \u2018outrage\u2019 - Australian Baha'i Community<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/jailing-parents-of-six-year-old-an-outrage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jailing parents of six-year-old an \u2018outrage\u2019 - Australian Baha'i Community\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The ongoing threat by Iranian authorities to imprison the father of a six-year-old boy whose mother is already jailed for her faith is an outrage, Australian Baha\u2019i Community spokesperson Natalie Mobini said today.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/jailing-parents-of-six-year-old-an-outrage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Australian Baha'i Community\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-12-04T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-10-14T04:51:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/Portals\/0\/family.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"it-admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"it-admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/jailing-parents-of-six-year-old-an-outrage\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/jailing-parents-of-six-year-old-an-outrage\/\",\"name\":\"Jailing parents of six-year-old an \u2018outrage\u2019 - Australian Baha'i Community\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/jailing-parents-of-six-year-old-an-outrage\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/jailing-parents-of-six-year-old-an-outrage\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/Portals\/0\/family.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-12-04T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-10-14T04:51:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/#\/schema\/person\/27e40e806cfb1ed651dbd81accc2b48f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/jailing-parents-of-six-year-old-an-outrage\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/jailing-parents-of-six-year-old-an-outrage\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/jailing-parents-of-six-year-old-an-outrage\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/Portals\/0\/family.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/Portals\/0\/family.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/jailing-parents-of-six-year-old-an-outrage\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Jailing parents of six-year-old an \u2018outrage\u2019\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/\",\"name\":\"Australian Baha'i Community\",\"description\":\"The official website of the Baha'is of Australia\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/#\/schema\/person\/27e40e806cfb1ed651dbd81accc2b48f\",\"name\":\"it-admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0defdebd8063ec2ce723629dbfefdb5171c04bb384ad103a85d694485f46ddbe?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0defdebd8063ec2ce723629dbfefdb5171c04bb384ad103a85d694485f46ddbe?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"it-admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/author\/it-admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Jailing parents of six-year-old an \u2018outrage\u2019 - Australian Baha'i Community","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/jailing-parents-of-six-year-old-an-outrage\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Jailing parents of six-year-old an \u2018outrage\u2019 - Australian Baha'i Community","og_description":"The ongoing threat by Iranian authorities to imprison the father of a six-year-old boy whose mother is already jailed for her faith is an outrage, Australian Baha\u2019i Community spokesperson Natalie Mobini said today.","og_url":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/jailing-parents-of-six-year-old-an-outrage\/","og_site_name":"Australian Baha'i Community","article_published_time":"2015-12-04T00:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-10-14T04:51:12+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/Portals\/0\/family.jpg"}],"author":"it-admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"it-admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/jailing-parents-of-six-year-old-an-outrage\/","url":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/jailing-parents-of-six-year-old-an-outrage\/","name":"Jailing parents of six-year-old an \u2018outrage\u2019 - Australian Baha'i Community","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/jailing-parents-of-six-year-old-an-outrage\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/jailing-parents-of-six-year-old-an-outrage\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/Portals\/0\/family.jpg","datePublished":"2015-12-04T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2017-10-14T04:51:12+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/#\/schema\/person\/27e40e806cfb1ed651dbd81accc2b48f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/jailing-parents-of-six-year-old-an-outrage\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/jailing-parents-of-six-year-old-an-outrage\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/jailing-parents-of-six-year-old-an-outrage\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/Portals\/0\/family.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/Portals\/0\/family.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/jailing-parents-of-six-year-old-an-outrage\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Jailing parents of six-year-old an \u2018outrage\u2019"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/#website","url":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/","name":"Australian Baha'i Community","description":"The official website of the Baha'is of Australia","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/#\/schema\/person\/27e40e806cfb1ed651dbd81accc2b48f","name":"it-admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0defdebd8063ec2ce723629dbfefdb5171c04bb384ad103a85d694485f46ddbe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0defdebd8063ec2ce723629dbfefdb5171c04bb384ad103a85d694485f46ddbe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"it-admin"},"url":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/author\/it-admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1338"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1338\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1500,"href":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1338\/revisions\/1500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}