(CNN) — Iran reportedly plans next week to put on trial seven Baha’i prisoners accused of espionage, even though one of their lawyers has become a fellow detainee and the other is outside the country.
The death penalty trial was delayed from last month and now human rights activists are concerned that closed-door proceedings without the lawyers will result in a judicial farce.
Diane Ala’i, the Baha’i International Community’s representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, said the trial date became known after Iranian authorities sent a notice to Abdolfattah Soltani, a human rights lawyer who was arrested in the aftermath of Iran’s disputed June 12 presidential election.
