Egyptian Courts and Iranian Prisons

I read something on my RSS feeds this evening that literally made me clap my hands in joy. (It's not that odd, really, hand-clapping is an honoured practice with a proud tradition in my flat. Still, I was happy.) I read on the Bahá'í World News Service that an administrative court in Egypt had ruled in favour of the Baha'is in two ongoing lawsuits. I've mentioned this issue in previous posts. It's been picked up by other blogs, some reprinting the blurb from the News Service, including Baha'i Views and Living in Egypt Without ID. In a follow-up post, Baha'i Views linked to a few blog coverages of this story.

I feel that Barney gets to the real issue: "Now we have to see how long it will take the Egyptian government to implement the new ruling." He then points out that there's still a long way for Egypt to go - Baha'i institutions and activities have been illegal in Egypt for nearly 50 years now. His article is good, I'd recommend it to all.

Less heartening to read on my feeds was that 54 Baha'is have been sentenced to jail in Iran, simply for being Baha'is. The Baha'i World News Service reports on calls from both Amnesty International and the US State Department for Iran to release these prisoners. There is still a long way to go in both Iran and Egypt.