An appeals court in Qatar has overturned the conviction of Remy Rowhani, leader of the country's small Baha'i community, according to an international Baha’i organization monitoring the case.
Rowhani, 71, had been sentenced to a five-year prison term in August after his conviction on charges related to social media posts. The organization — the Baha'i International Community — said Wednesday that it was looking forward to his release.
“We are relieved
that the Qatari justice system has reversed the misunderstandings of earlier court hearings," said Saba Haddad, the BIC representative to the United Nations in Geneva. "Justice has prevailed.”
Rowhani — former head of Qatar’s Chamber of Commerce — was convicted on charges involving the Baha’i community’s X and Instagram accounts, which contain posts about Qatari holidays and Baha’i writings.
Qatari prosecutors alleged that these accounts “promoted the ideas and beliefs of a religious sect that raises doubt about the foundations and teachings of the Islamic religion.”
In August, Haddad depicted the verdict as “a serious breach and grave violation of the right to freedom of religion or belief" as well as an attack on Qatar's Baha’i community. Haddad’s office, in a post on X, called on the international community “to urge Qatar’s government to uphold international law and ensure Mr. Rowhani’s immediate release.”
The conviction came just two weeks after a group of U.N. human rights experts expressed “serious concern” about Rowhani’s arrest and detention, which they depicted as “part of a broader and disturbing pattern of disparate treatment of the Baha’i minority in Qatar.”
“The mere existence of Baha’is in Qatar and their innocuous presence on X cannot be criminalized under international law,” they said.
The Baha’i faith — a small but global religion with an interfaith credo — fits comfortably into the religious spectrum of most countries but in several Middle East nations, Baha’i followers face repression that is drawing criticism from rights groups.
The abuse is most evident in Iran, which bans the faith and has been widely accused of persecuting Baha’i followers, human rights advocates say. They also report systemic discrimination in Yemen, Qatar and Egypt.
Haddad expressed hope that the overturning of Rowhani's conviction signified a shift toward more religious tolerance.
“The Arab Region has seen progress in coexistence and diversity over the past several years, and Baha’i communities in Qatar and across the region are loyal citizens who are dedicated to serving their countries," she said. "We hope that Remy Rowhani’s freedom signals more such progress in Qatar in the future.”
The Baha’i faith was founded in the 1860s by Baha’u’llah, a Persian nobleman considered a prophet by his followers. Muslims consider the Prophet Muhammad the highest and last prophet.
From the Baha’i faith’s earliest days, Shiite Muslim clerics have denounced its followers as apostates. That repression continued after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, when many Baha’i followers were executed or went missing.
There are less than 8 million Baha’i believers worldwide, with the largest number in India.
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