Baha’i adherent Novian Hejazi sentenced to prison, heavy fine and 10-year social rights ban

Hengaw – Thursday, May 28, 2026

Novian Hejazi, a Baha’i resident of Juybar in Iran’s Mazandaran province, has been sentenced by the judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran to prison, a heavy financial penalty and a lengthy deprivation of social rights.

According to information obtained by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Novian Hejazi was recently sentenced by Branch 102 of the Criminal Court No. 2 of Juybar to seven months and 16 days in prison on charges of “propaganda against the state.”

He was also sentenced to pay a fine of 1.225 billion rials (approximately 122 million and 501 thousand tomans) and banned from social rights for 10 years and one day over what authorities described as “promoting the Baha’i faith.”

Hejazi was previously arrested on June 25, 2025, at his home in Juybar by Iranian government forces without the presentation of a warrant.

After undergoing interrogation and initial judicial proceedings, he was temporarily released on bail on Aug. 3, 2025, pending the completion of legal proceedings.

During the period of his detention, his wife, Lava Samimi, was also arrested after she went to Kachouei Detention Center in Sari to inquire about her husband’s condition and whereabouts. She was later released on bail after a period in detention.