‘the spreading of corruption on earth,’

Iranian Baha’i leaders may face new accusation on anniversary of imprisonment

"NEW YORK, 12 May (BWNS) - The seven Baha’i leaders currently imprisoned in Iran are facing the anniversary of their arrest this Thursday, along with new and extremely grave accusations, after spending a year in jail without formal charges or access to their lawyer, Shirin Ebadi.

“Despite their obvious innocence and the call by many for their immediate release, these seven men and women have been in legal limbo for a year now, against all international human rights standards,” said Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Nations.

“Moreover, their families have recently been told of a possible new charge - ‘the spreading of corruption on earth,’ which goes by the term ‘Mofsede fel-Arz’ in Persian and carries the threat of death under the penal code of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” said Ms. Dugal."

 To this charge, I can only say that if they are guilty, than I am guilty too. And I evoke the example of the companions of Spartacus!


Let every lover of humanity and peace stand up for justice and human rights!


To the Children of Prison and Exile

by Majid Naficy

After the silence of firing squads

Still it burns in our hearts

And we carry their corpses

On our broken backs.

I want to turn this death into life.

How many companions,

Who in these years of defeat and execution

Created life from an embryo?

I am talking about the children of prison and exile:

Cheshmeh, Roza, and Sulmaz.(1)

I want to turn this death into life

That like a jug of water

Becomes filled with the freshness of Cheshmeh,

And like a red rose

Blooms from the lips of Roza,

And like the word “sulmaz”

Becomes evergreen.

I will sift, grind, and soften this death,

Until the children of prison and exile

Mold it into play dough.

I am calling you,

O newborns of years of pain,

The crocodiles in your painting

Have no teeth,

Because the names of their friends

Never crossed their lips.

I want to turn this death into a poem,

That can be read like magic

When the corpse of a butterfly

Carried by ants

Makes you remember the dead ones.

I want to turn this death into life.

1. These names respectively mean: “spring”, “rose” and “everlasting”.