U P se h en
LONDON — At least 130 women
and children belonging to the Bahai
faith banned by Iran's Islamic ië fme
were attacked and forced to hide in a
north Iran forest last week for refus-
ing to change their religion, the Bahai
assembly of Britain said Monday.
r'The mob which drove the group
into the forest consisted of all kinds of
pe ple, not just government forces,”
sai i Mary Hardy, general secretary of
the Bahai community's organization.
iShe said the organization had no
ne .vs of the group's whereabouts
after it escaped into the forest. Nor
did it know how many of the group
w re children, she added.
The Bahais were inhabitants of the
Ival village, near the north Iranian
to rn of Sari, before they “were
he ded into a walled field without
food and water on June 28,” Hardy
saM in a prepared statement.
“Tl ey were told they were to be
h id there until they recanted their
faith and embraced Islam.
“At .the end of three days none of
the captives had recanted,” the state-
mént said.
They were released July 1 “to
return home” but before they could
do so they were attacked by a “village
mob and forced to hide in the nearby
forest.”
“Horrifically enough, the only
crime they committed was that they
were Bahais,” Hardy said.
Sixteen Bahais, including 10
women, were executed in Iran
between June 16 and 18 desoite an
appeal by President Reagan to spare
their lives.
The executions brought to 151 the
number of Bahais who have been put
to death because they refused to
recant their faith, Hardy said.
“As far as prisoners go we have no
idea about their numbers,” she said.
“The entire Bahai international
community has been appalled at this
new cruelty being inflicted on its Ira-
nian brothers. Appeals are being
made to the government-and all
humanitarian agencies,” the state-
ment said.
The statement also said two
Bahais, Jehangir Hedayati and
Ahmad Bashiri, were kidnapped
while walking in a street in Tehran on
June 29.
NEW YORK, N.Y.
TRIBUNE
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Ifràn an Baha group T
caflad mOb victims:
K
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