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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend February 3, 2006 Dhabihu'llah Mahrami Mahrami’s cause of death never determined Dhabihu'llah Mahrami, 59, was jailed for 10 years and held in a government prison in Yazd, Iran, under harsh physical conditions until his death, according to the Bah�’� church. Arrested in 1995 in Yazd on charges of apostasy, meaning to abandon one’s religion, Mahrami was initially sentenced to death. His sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment after an international outcry and widespread media attention, the church reported . The cause of his death was never determined, though he had no known health concerns, church officials reported. "We also know that Mr. Mahrami was forced to perform arduous physical labor and that he had received death threats on a number of occasions," said Bani Dugal, principal representative of the Bah�’� International Community to the United Nations, in a story published at news.bahai.org on the Web. "In this light, there should be no doubt that the Iranian authorities bear manifest responsibility for the death of this innocent man, whose only crime was his belief in the Bah�’� faith." Mahrami was a civil servant, but at the time of his arrest he was making a living installing window blinds, having been fired from his government job like thousands of other Bah�’�s in the years following the 1979 Iranian revolution, the church reported. Although Iranian officials have asserted that Mahrami was guilty of spying for Israel, church officials say that court records show he was tried and sentenced solely on a charge of being an apostate, a crime punishable by death under Islamic law. Advertisement Although Mahrami was a lifelong Bah�’�, the apostasy charge apparently came about because a colleague, in an effort to prevent Mahrami from losing his job because of his faith, submitted to a newspaper an article stating that Mahrami had converted to Islam. When it became clear to Iranian authorities that Mahrami remained a member of the Bah�’� community, with 300,000 believers in Iran, the church reports, he was arrested and charged him with apostasy for allegedly converting from Islam to the Bah�’� faith. Mahrami is survived by his aged mother, his wife, his four children and his grandchildren. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Computer Security Discount Hotel Reservations Casinos Canada dvd-r Generic Viagra Myspace Windermere Van Vleet Deep Muscle Stimulator Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Online Casino Fundraisers Student Loans Sudoku Online Advertisement s Advertisement