Tehran’s new prosecutor on Tuesday announced that the first session of the trial of seven Bahai leaders in Iran was held on Tuesday at revolutionary court no 28. The trail and the parts of the indictment that were read out in court, have stirred concern about the fate of the defendants across the globe. Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mrs. Mahvash Sabe, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli and Mr. Vahid Tizfahm are the leaders of the Bahai community in Iran who have been in detention in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison for over 22 months now.

The charges that the seven defendants face, as read out in the trial, are “espionage,” “propaganda activities against the state,” “establishment and expansion of illegal organizations, cooperation with Israel,” “participation in gathering classified information and providing them to foreigner with the intent of disrupting state security,” “conspiracy and consultations with the goal of acting against domestic and foreign security of Iran,” “distorting the image of the Islamic Republic,” “corruption on earth.”

A section of the indictment, as read out at the session, said, “by holding meetings at the residences of different Western ambassadors,  in addition to providing news and intelligence, the most current policies and measures were discussed and exchanged with the purpose of opposing the Islamic republic.”

These charges can result in some very serious punishment in the Islamic republic.

Worldwide condemnation of the trial has been quick and extensive. Immediately after the remarks of Tehran’s prosecutor, the Bahai International Community issued a statement protesting the charges against the Bahai leaders. It said that the trial was carried out in violation of numerous legal standards and said that the “trial of these individuals was in fact the trail of the whole religious community.”

In various interviews with the international media, Diane Ala’i of the Bahai International Community called the charges unfounded. He said that in view of the attitude of the Iranian government, particularly Ahmadinejad’s administration during the last four years towards the Bahai community, “while defense attorneys were allowed to be present at the trial, family members of the defendants were not.” It should be pointed out that “the defense attorneys were never allowed to visit or have any contacts with their clients during the entire period of detention,” Ala’i said.

Ala’i also said that while officials had declared the trial session to be shut to the public and closed, witnesses had seen movie cameras transported into the session. “It appears that this court was completely a showpiece, similar to the show trials that have been held in the last 7 months for many pro-reform political activists,” he said.

Concerns for the fate of the Bahai leaders was further heightened because in his remarks to the media, Tehran’s prosecutor also revealed that in addition to the trial of the Bahai leaders on Tuesday, another group of Bahais had been recently arrested as well related to the Ashura protests in Iran last month.

ISNA student news agency of Iran quoted Tehran prosecutor Abbas Dolati Jaafarabadi regarding the most recent arrest of Bahais on Ashura as saying, “These individuals have not been arrested because they are Bahais but for having an effective role in organizing riots on Ashura and also sending images of the riots out of the country.”

The International Campaign on Human Rights in Iran last Thursday issued a statement over the fate of the seven Bahais in detention in Iran for over 22 months and expressed its serious concern on that warning, “In view of the list of charges against them, it is quite possible that each would be sentenced to death.”

Many international organizations such as Bahai International Community, the European Union, Iran’s Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi (who is also among the defense team members in the Bahai’s case), the Brazilian Human Rights Commission, the US government, and senior government officials from a list of countries have publicly expressed their concerns over the case and its handling and have issued official statements to that effect.

Since the Islamic Republic of Iran does not officially recognize the Bahai religion, the members of this community in Iran are deprived of many social and cultural rights and any religious or cultural activities in Iran. They are regularly accused of being in connection with Israel and the US, implying illegal or unethical activities, and have been confronted in stern ways. There are some 6 million members of this faith around the world.