Calling for the Immediate Release of Matin Gorji
Floor Speech
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Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call on the Iranian government to immediately release Matin Gorji. On January 8, 2023, Iranian authorities searched Mr. Gorji's home and arrested him simply because he is a member of the Baha'i faith. According to Mr. Gorji's family, the authorities who searched his home physically abused him and, upon arrest, refused to allow him to take his medication for his liver condition with him. His mother was told he faces a sentence of at least 2 years, yet the specific nature of his charges is unknown.
Sadly, Mr. Gorji is just one of many members of the Baha'i community subjected to harsh persecution in Iran. Since 1979, Iranian authorities have killed or executed more than 200 Baha'i leaders, thousands more have been arrested and interrogated, and more than 10,000 have been dismissed from government and university jobs. In its most recent report, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom reported that Iran continues to persecute people of the Baha'i faith, closing their businesses, denying them access to an education, demolishing their homes without warning, auctioning off their property, and blocking their access to bury their deceased in a place of their choosing, instead requiring them to use a mass grave site.
In its 2021 Report to Congress on International Religious Freedom, the United States Department of State reported that government officials continue to disseminate anti-Baha'i messaging using both traditional and social media. Further, the community is so stigmatized that private sector employers often refuse to hire those of the Baha'i or dismiss them from their jobs.
Today, I call on my House colleagues to stand with Matin Gorji and every member of the Baha'i community in Iran. I call on the Iranian government to immediately release not only Mr. Gorji, but every prisoner of conscience in Iran who is incarcerated simply for their beliefs. It is time to end this egregious repression of religious minorities.
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