Trial for 7 in Iran hits home for Houston-area family

Brother, a follower of the Baha’i faith, is among those who could get death penalty

SUSAN CARROLL, Copyright 2009 Houston Chonicle

Published 5:30 am, Thursday, July 9, 2009

Photo: Dave Rossman, For The Chronicle

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Kamal Khanjani’s brother Jamaloddin and six other Baha’i members, seen in the photo he’s holding, on Saturday will go on trial for their lives in Iran.

Kamal Khanjani’s brother Jamaloddin and six other Baha’i members, seen in the photo he’s holding, on Saturday will go on trial for their lives in Iran.

Photo: Dave Rossman, For The Chronicle

Trial for 7 in Iran hits home for Houston-area family

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On Saturday, as his brother is scheduled to stand trial in Iran on charges that could result in the death penalty, 65-year-old Kamal Khanjani and other members of the Baha’i faith will gather for a prayer service in Missouri City.

Khanjani’s older brother, Jamaloddin Khanjani, is one of seven Baha’i leaders imprisoned in Iran since May 2008 on charges including spying for Israel, “insulting religious sanctities” and “propaganda against the Islamic Republic,” according to official Iranian press reports.

The trial for the five men and two women is expected to draw international attention to the treatment of members of the Baha’i faith in Iran. Its outcome will be watched closely by Baha’is in the U.S., estimated to total about 165,000 — including about 1,800 to 2,000 in the greater Houston area, according to local Baha’i leaders.

“I am very much concerned,” said Khanjani, owner of a Houston air conditioning company, said of the coming trial for his 75-year-old brother.

His fears were echoed by other members of the local Baha’i community, which includes Iranian refugees who fled religious oppression following the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Ajit Giani, a spokesman for the Houston Baha’i Community, said that the Iranian government has jailed hundreds of their members and executed some of their leaders during the past 30 years in Iran because of their religious beliefs.

“My fear, of course, based on past history ... is that we have to fear the consequences of the trial,” Giani said. “The chance of the government losing face and these people being found not guilty is negligible.”

In February, U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Wood issued a statement calling the espionage charges against the seven baseless and saying the accusations are part of ongoing persecution of the Baha’i in Iran.

Iran’s prosecutor general wrote in a letter published in an Iranian newspaper in February that said “all evidence points to the fact that the Baha’i organization is in direct contact with foreign enemies of Iran,” according to an excerpt quoted by The Washington Post.

Giani said Iran’s persecution of the Baha’i stems from a difference in theology. The Baha’i believe in a messenger from God after Mohammed, who Muslims believe to be God’s final prophet.

In Iran, Baha’i is not recognized as an official religion, and members are forbidden from holding gatherings. If they practice their faith openly, they are barred from attending universities and holding government jobs. Giani said Baha’i cemeteries and sacred sites have been destroyed and desecrated.

“The condition of the Baha’is in Iran is deplorable,” Giani said. “With the amount of cruelty, I’m amazed the world is not aware of this.”

Kamal described his brother as “very kind, generous and strong.” He is devoted to helping the poor, and is a deep believer in his faith, he said. Kamal’s sister-in-law relayed a conversation she had with Jamaloddin Khanjani a few months ago in Iran’s Evin prison, after he was officially charged.

“He said, ‘As a Baha’i people, we believe in God, and we accept what his will is. Even a leaf of a tree does not fall without God’s willing, so we accept it,’ ” Kamal Khanjani said. “We accept it.”