B.C. man worries for cousin, a Bahá’í woman jailed in Iran’s Evin prison

Baha’is in Iran are not allowed to attend university, they’re barred from holding any public sector job, and their homes are often subject to raids and demolition.

Coquitlam resident Vesal Amini is making a plea for the release of his cousin, Samin Ehsani, who is behind bars in Iran’s notorious Evin prison.

She has been sentenced to five years in connection with her religious beliefs as a Bahai – Iran’s largest minority religion, and for her role as a children’s rights activist.

“It’s not fair,” Amini told Global News, “to be imprisoned for her belief, doing good things and being a good person.”

Amini said she was active in running courses for Afghan children who are denied the right to an education in Iran. He says his cousin is a mother to a five-year-old girl named Nila and the two of them miss each other terribly.

“She is missing her daughter and her daughter is missing her mother,” he said.

Ehsani’s unjust imprisonment is a reality playing out for Baha’is in Iran.

They are routinely and arbitrarily thrown into jail. Bahai’s in Iran have been under siege by their government for decades and Amini is hoping to highlight his cousin’s case to raise awareness of the persecution people of his faith face in Iran.

Amini calls the treatment of Bahai’s in Iran – apartheid.