Iran: Murderers of a Baha'i Citizen Released on Bail Despite Confession to Murder

The statement further says: "Mr. Amiri, 63, was murdered outside his home on 26 September 2016 in the city of Yazd, where his family had long resided.  On the evening of the murder, the two men, who had come to his residence the night before under the pretense of wanting to purchase his vehicle, returned to ask for Mr. Amiri.  When he came to the door, they violently stabbed him multiple times.

The two murderers, who are brothers, were apprehended by local shopkeepers as they tried to run away and were delivered to the police. During their subsequent interrogations and court hearings, they admitted to having killed Mr. Amiri because he was a Baha’i.

They disclosed that they were prompted to carry out this act by their religious beliefs and statements made by clerics that Baha’is are against Islam.  The father of the two men is reported to have complained about a cleric who is responsible for radicalizing his two sons.

“We wanted to kill a Baha’i,” said one of the brothers when asked about the reason behind the murder.  “I had heard that Baha’is are Muslims who have turned away from Islam, and they are apostates, and that the shedding of their blood is a meritorious deed.”

“Our aim was to kill a Baha’i, it did not matter who it was,” stated the other brother during another interrogation.  The brothers even stated during interrogations that they would kill someone else upon release.

Despite the admission of murder, the court has now released the two men on bail".