Bahá’ís in West Berkshire have written to Richard Benyon, MP for Newbury, to ask for his further support in defence of the Bahá’ís in Iran.

It follows the publication of an open letter from the Bahá’í International Community to the Head of Iran’s Judiciary, calling for the release of seven Bahá’í leaders who were first arrested in 2008.

The open letter follows an appeal court decision in autumn 2010 in overturning the sentence of ten years’ imprisonment of the seven Bahá’ís for alleged offences relating to undermining national security.

The appeal court had ruled that there was no foundation to the charges related to undermining national security, but upheld the verdict on charges related to the services of the seven Bahá’ís as members of the Yaran (the Friends in Iran).

“Richard Benyon has supported us before and we have written to him to ask for his further support in defence of  the Bahá’ís in Iran,” said West Berkshire Bahá’í Shawn Khorassani.