[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 25 (Tuesday, February 7, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E101-E102]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            CALLING FOR THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF MATIN GORJI

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JAMIE RASKIN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 7, 2023

  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

[[Page E102]]

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.

                          ____________________