New arrests in Karaj, Semnan and Shiraz

Two articles reporting on developments. From iranpresswatch.org.

Call for Prayers for Vahdat Dana

Posted: 28 Apr 2009

As reported previously on this site (view story below), on Saturday, April 25, 2009, Mr. Vahdat Dana has been arrested. Iran Press Watch has learned through sources close to the situation that Mr. Dana is suffering from a significant heart ailment, and prison conditions could deal a severe blow to his health. The family has approached the judge presiding over Mr. Dana’s case, but so far no information has been given to them about his whereabouts or his condition.

The friends of Mr. Dana have requested prayers from people of good will everywhere, so that the Almighty may continue to watch over all those who are incarcerated in Iran because of their religious beliefs.

Mr. Dana is an uncle of Sina Dana, whose expulsion from Tabriz University was reported by Iran Press Watch some time ago.


Baha’is Arrested in Karaj, Semnan and Shiraz

April 27, 2009

Iran Press Watch has learned of several disturbing developments throughout Iran in the past two days:

Karaj

At dawn on Sunday, April 26, 2009, several agents of Tehran’s branch of the Ministry of Intelligence along with one of their counterparts in Karaj’s branch arrested Shahram Safajoo, a Baha’i resident of Faz-4 in Mehr-Shahr district of Karaj. This arrest took place at 6:30 AM when Mr. Safajoo was leaving his home for work in Tehran. It appears that the security agents had been waiting for him outside of his residence.
After Mr. Safajoo was seized, agents went into the house with him and searched the entire dwelling, which resulted in total disarray of the residence’s furnishing. Agents confiscated all mobile devices, books, papers, CDs related to the Baha’i Faith, 2 laptops, and everyone’s passports.
They took Mr. Safajoo to an unknown destination, but when the family inquired after him, the Ministry reported that the prisoner was still incarcerated in Karaj’s facility and had not been taken to Tehran.

Semnan

Earlier today, Monday April 27, Mr. Siyamak Iqani and Mrs. Susan Tebyanian-Jabbari were arrested.

Shiraz

On Wednesday, April 8, the Ministry of Intelligence called the residence of Mr. Vahdat Dana in Shiraz and instructed his wife to advise Mr. Dana that next morning he needed to present himself at the Ministry’s branch office in Shiraz. Mrs. Dana refused to comply and insisted that a written notice must be sent from the judiciary.

On April 12, when Mr. Dana was leaving his residence for work, he was confronted by the agents of the Ministry of Intelligence who asked him to accompany them to the prison facility of the Ministry, known as Pelak 100. Mr. Dana insisted on seeing a warrant issued by a judge for his arrest. The agents instead produced a handwritten document which included the phrase, “Individuals of interest may be investigated and arrested.” Mr. Dana persisted that an order specifying his name should be produced, which the agents had none.

When the agents left, Mr. Dana immediately wrote a letter to Hojjatu’l-Islam Musavi-Tabar, the deputy revolutionary prosecutor asking him to clarify the case against him. In response, Mr. Musavi-Tabar instructed, “If the agents are able to produce a warrant, then you must accompany them.”

At 12:30 PM on Saturday, April 25, the agents returned to the residence of Mr. Dana and instructed his wife to call her husband and to tell him that he should immediately return home. The agents waited outside for Mr. Dana to arrive. When Mr. Dana arrived, they produced a warrant against him issued by a judge named Rezaei-Dadyar, in branch 10 of judiciary. They took Mr. Dana with them.

In both instants, the agents were respectful and professional.
However, it should be noted that Mr. Dana has serious heart conditions and has previously suffered a heart attack. He also suffers from kidney ailment and complications, which makes his incarceration extremely worrisome.

[Source: http://bab.blogfa.com/. Translation by Iran Press Watch.]