- March 5, 2008: Mahvash Sabet, one of the Baha’i leaders, was arrested in Mashhad.
- May 14, 2008: The remaining six Baha’i leaders – Behrouz Tavakkoli, Saeid Rezaie, Fariba Kamalabadi, Vahid Tizfahm, Jamaloddin Khanjani, and Afif Naeimi – were arrested at their homes in Tehran. They were charged with “espionage on behalf of Israel”, “insulting the sacredness of Islam”, and “propaganda against the regime.”
- June 2008: Prominent Indians issued an open letter calling for the release of the Yaran.
- September 2008: After being held in solitary confinement for about 4 months, the Yaran were relocated to standard prison cells in Tehran’s Evin Prison, where they remain.
- October 2008: The Yaran were separated from other prisoners, where the five men have been kept in one cell and the two women in another, isolated from others.
- February 11, 2009: The legal reporter of ISNA, Judge Hassan Haddad stated that the Yaran would be tried within the coming week, but the trial did not happen.
- February 25, 2009: The Yaran were allowed to meet with their families. Their trial was also said to be postponed for another two weeks, but again, the trial did not take place.
- February 27, 2009: Iran’s Attorney-General, Qorban-Ali Dorri-Najafabadi, declared that the Yaran have confessed to the charges leveled against them, which no one considered credible.
- March 2009: The Yaran decided that as a measure of goodwill to disband all Baha’i organizations in Iran. This decision was ratified by the Universal House of Justice.
- April 27, 2009: A fourth charge was leveled against the Yaran: “Aiding, teaching and propagating the Baha‘i religion in Iran.” This is tantamount to “mufsed fel-arz” [corrupt on earth] which has historically carried harsh consequences, including the death penalty.
- January 12, 2010: After several postponements, their trial officially began, and the seven were arraigned in Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran.
- February 8, 2010: The second court session was held in Iran behind closed doors.
- April 12, 2010: The third court session was held in Iran. The hearing was again closed, and no details made available.
- June 14, 2010: The trial of the seven most prominent Baha’i in Iran came to a conclusion after three days of successive court hearings. Despite being imprisoned for more than two years, no bail was issued.
- August 9, 2010: French and US members of the faith told AFP Iran sentenced the seven leading members of its Bahai religious minority to 20-year jail terms, adding that the group was awaiting confirmation of the terms.
- August 11, 2010: Statements of international support were issued by the governments of Canada, France, Australia, the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Germany, the European Parliament and the European Union.
- September 16, 2012: The Baha’i International Community learned that the lawyers representing the seven were informed orally that the 20-year jail terms were reduced to 10 years
- October 9, 2010: British newspaper The Guardian published a letter decrying the lack of due process leading up to the sentencing of seven Iranian Baha’i in August.
- April 28, 2011: the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released its 2011 Annual Report . The report describes – beginning on page 78 – the “severe” persecution of the Baha’i community in Iran from April 2010 to March 2011.
- April 1, 2012: International Baha’i groups commemorate 10,000 days of imprisonment of the seven spiritual leaders with a mobile billboard campaign (for which I produced the artwork!) in Amsterdam, Netherlands; Berlin, Germany; Brasilia, Brazil; Cape Town, Pretoria and Johannesburg in South Africa; London, England; Paris, France; Sydney, Australia; Washington, D.C., United States; Wellington, New Zealand; and New Delhi, India.
Germany Mobile Protest Artwork
@lissnup 