7 members of the Bahaii Faith in solitary confinement of 209

The seven leaders of the Bahaii faith, who have received prison sentences, are: Fariba Kamal Abadi, Jamol-Aldin Khanjani. Afif Naiimi, Saieed Rezaii, Behrooz Tavakoli, Vahid TizFahm, and Mahvash Sabet.

All are being detained in solitary confinement of the 209 section of the notorious Evin prison.

Six of the detainees were arrested at their homes after a night raid by the Intelligence agents on 14 May 2008.

Hassan Haddad , deputy Prosecutor of Tehran- known as the butcher by most students – announced on 2 August that the detainees are charged for founding an illegal groups and being in contact with Israel.

Iranian government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham had accused the six members 'of a group working together "against national interest." And that it was "an organized establishment linked to foreigners, the Zionists in particular."

In reaction to these allegations, Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations, called Iran's assertion "utterly baseless."

"The allegations are not new, and the Iranian government knows well that they are untrue," he had said.

He had categorically denied accusations implying that the Bahaiis have been involved in attempts to overthrow the Iranian government, and asserted that "The Bahai community is not involved in political matters. Their only 'crime' is their belief in the (Bahai) faith."

In an interview Bani Dugal had stressed: "The argument for a ploy with Israel is a bald-faced lie and deception. The Iranian government is taking advantage of the fact that the Bahai community's governing council is based in Israel," (August 4 1980)

The Islamic Republic of Iran does not recognize the followers of the Bahaii faith. This was particularly obvious during the 1980s open.