UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE
Found: http://www.adressformona.org/storyofmona/storyofmona2.htm
On the Process of Interrogation
THE INTERROGATIONS AT SEPPAH PRISON
Each Baha'i arrested is subjected to a four-stage interrogation process that leads either to
release or execution. The first stage consists of a series of formal interrogations by an
Islamic judge appointed by the Public Prosecutor.
These take place inside the prison. The interrogations, which last for many hours, are
usually held with a number of the prisoners present, although some are also held with
each prisoner alone. The revolutionary guards are usually masked and the prisoners
blind-folded, and made to sit facing a wall. At each stage the victim is verbally abused,
asked the same questions over and over again, and often asked to write down the answers
since the majority of the revolutionary guards and many of the interrogating judges are
illiterate, while their Baha'i victims are often well-educated, the interrogators demand to
know the names, addresses and telephone numbers of all the Baha'is in a given city,
then in all of Iran, then around the world. 10 At each stage the prisoner is asked to deny
their Baha'i beliefs and become a Muslim.
The next stage is an interrogation at the Islamic Revolutionary Court,
which is carried out by the Assistant to the Public Prosecutor. This interrogation may also
take many hours, but is normally completed in one day. The final interrogation takes
place in front of an Islamic Revolutionary Judge, and usually lasts only a short time,
sometimes less than an hour.
After the three interrogation stages, there is no set time before a “sentence” is handed
down. It can take weeks, months or longer. In all interrogations and before any Baha'i is
executed, however, he or she is given numerous opportunities, usually under great
physical and mental anguish, to recant.
