International media outlets, including Arab sources, reported yesterday that the leader of Qatar's small Baha'i community, Rami Rouhani, was sentenced to five years in prison last Wednesday.
The Qatari court convicted Rouhani of posting content on social media that allegedly "questioned the foundations of the Islamic religion."
Rouhani, 71, was arrested last April. According to documents published by the Baha'i International Community office in Geneva, three judges on Qatar's Supreme Judicial Council handed down his sentence. Although his lawyers asked to take into account his medical condition, as he suffers from a heart condition, their request was rejected.
Saba Haddad, the representative of the Baha'i International Community at the United Nations, described the ruling as "a serious and dangerous violation of the right to freedom of religion and belief, and a direct attack on Rami Rouhani and the Baha'i community in Qatar."
