🔻December protests: Representatives of the Baha’i community: Two cousins are accused of being involved in the killing of three Basij members

Representatives of the Baha’i community reported that two Baha’i cousins in Iran, in connection with the December protests, have been sentenced to heavy prison terms.

According to the Baha’i World Community, Branch (Revolutionary Court) in Kerman has sentenced 30-year-old Payvand Ne’imi to 12 and a half years and 29-year-old Borna Ne’imi to eight years in prison.

Based on this report, the two cousins, who were arrested about two months apart, are accused of “acting against national security” and of being involved in the killing of three Basij members in the city of Kerman.

Simin Fahndzh, the representative of the Baha’i World Community at the United Nations in Geneva, said: “It is deeply shameful that these two completely innocent individuals have been sentenced to such lengthy prison terms—terms that, in practice, take away their youth and many years of their lives.”

She told the French news agency that “not even the smallest piece of evidence” has been provided to prove the “baseless” charges against the two men.