Mahvash Sabet

Detained Since: July 31, 2022

Charges: "Founding or leading an organization that aims to disrupt national security" (Art. 498 IPC).

Sentence: Ten years in prison.

2008-2018 Imprisonment:

• Detained: March 5, 2008
• Released: September 18, 2017
• Charges: Espionage, propaganda against the Islamic Republic, and establishment of an illegal administration
• Sentence: Ten years in prison (reduced)
• Original Sentence: 20 years in prison

Biography: Mahvash Sabet is a teacher and school principal who was dismissed from public education for being a Baha'i. Before her arrest, she served for 15 years as director of the Baha'i Institute for Higher Education, which provides alternative higher education for Baha'i youth. She began her professional career as a teacher and also worked as a principal at several schools. In her professional role, she also collaborated with the National Literacy Committee of Iran. After the Islamic revolution, like thousands of other Iranian Baha'i educators, she was fired from her job and blocked from working in public education. Mahvash Sabet wasreleased in September, 2017 after completing her ten-year sentence.

Sabet was rearrested on July 31, 2022 along with two other Baha'i advocates who had previously been part of the Baha'i Seven.

Advocate: Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)

Advocacy Partner:U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom

Updates:

• On November 21, 2022, after a trial which lasted approximately one hour, Mahvash Sabet and Fariba Kamalabadi were sentenced to ten years in prison (December 11, 2022, Voice of America).
• On December 22, 2022, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) published a statement condemning the sentencing of Mahvash Sabet and Fariba Kamalabadi (December 10, 2022, USCIRF).
• On February 17, 2023, Front Line Defenders released a statement welcoming the release of hundreds of Iranian prisoners pardoned by the Supreme Leader of Iran on February 4, and called on Iran to release human rights defenders who had not been pardoned including Mahvash Sabet, Fariba Kamalabadi, and Afif Naeimi (February 17, 2023, Front Line Defenders).
• In April 2023, it was reported that Mahvash Sabet's kneecaps were broken during an interrogation following her arrest on July 31, 2022 (April 11, 2023, New Arab).
• Mahvash Sabet and Fariba Kamalabadi participated in a virtual symposium held on April 21 and 22, 2023, titled "How to Save Iran" along side "more than 40" activists within and outside of Iran, including six others who are in prison. The two women contributed to the second panel (April 24, 2023, Iran Wire).
• On May 22, 2023, International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance Chair Fiona Bruce, a Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom, released a statement expressing "grave concern" over the continued imprisonment of Mahvash Sabet and Fariba Kamalabadi, and called on Iran to release "any unfairly detained members of the Baha'i community" and ensure those in prison receive "proper treatment" while in custody (May 22, 2023, U.S. Department of State). That same day, PEN International and affiliated PEN organizations condemned the alleged torture of Mahvash Sabet and called for her immediate release as well as immediate provision of adequate medical care while in custody (May 22, 2023, PEN International).
• To commemborate the first anniversary of Mahvash Sabet and Fariba Kamalabadi's arrest, a group of 45 Iranian women, comprised of their friends and fellow human rights defenders, dedicated a poem to the two women, which was published by Narges Mohammadi via Instagram (August 3, 2023, Iran Press Watch)
• On August 10, 2023, it was reported that the Tehran Court of Appeals had upheld Mahvash Sabet and Fariba Kamalabadi's ten year prison sentences (August 10, 2023, Iran Wire).
• In recognition of the first anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death on September 16, 2023, Front Line Defenders released a statement calling for the release of all human rights defenders in Iran, including Mahvash Sabet, Fariba Kamalabadi, and Narges Mohammadi (September 14, 2023, Front Line Defenders).