Akhtar Sabet, 25

Early life

• She was born in 1958–59 in the town of Sarvestan in the south of Fars Province (Archives of Baha’i Persecution in Iran; Iran Wire; Morteza Esmailipur’s YouTube; Dar Gozar-e TarikhTelegram; Payam-e Haq; Baha’i Instruction website, Abdorrahman Boroumand Center)
• In December 1978, Sarvestan’s Baha’is were attacked by a group of Sarvestan residents, who had been instigated by revolutionary religious clerics to put pressure on Baha’is to reject their faith. The family home and business were set on fire and their possessions were pillaged. This attack caused Baha’i families, including Akhtar’s, to move from Sarvestan to Shiraz. (Archives of Baha’i Persecution in Iran; Iran Wire; Morteza Esmailipur’s YouTube; Dar Gozar-e TarikhTelegram; Payam-e Haq; Baha’i Instruction website, Abdorrahman Boroumand Center)
• On November 18, 1978, as Muslims marked the anniversary of the Ghadir Khumm, when the Prophet Mohammad delivered a sermon at the Pond of Khumm, a group attacked Baha’i businesses and set them on fire, provoked by several clerics in the city. Akhtar’s family and many other Baha’is traveled to Shiraz from Sarvestan at night, but Akhtar Sabet did not join her family. The attacks intensified, with groups of people attacking Baha’i homes and destroying their belongings. That night, Akhtar had no choice but to join her family in Shiraz. (Uplifiting Words Blog)
• She spent her childhood in poverty; she also worked in the last two years of high school in order to make money and help out in the family’s expenses. (Archives of Baha’i Persecution in Iran; Iran Wire; Morteza Esmailipur’s YouTube; Dar Gozar-e TarikhTelegram; Payam-e Haq; Baha’i Instruction website, Abdorrahman Boroumand Center)

Education and work

• Akhtar went to school in Sarvestan until 9th grade and subsequently moved to Shiraz where she obtained her high school diploma. In high school and college, she would spend time to make sure her fellow students were making progress in their academic studies. (Archives of Baha’i Persecution in Iran; Iran Wire; Morteza Esmailipur’s YouTube; Dar Gozar-e TarikhTelegram; Payam-e Haq; Baha’i Instruction website, Abdorrahman Boroumand Center)
• She had an associate degree from Shiraz’ Nursing Education Center. Ms. Sabet Sarvestani worked as a nurse at the children’s wing of Sa’di Hospital. She liked the nursing profession and she would work at the hospital as a replacement for her colleagues who were on leave. (Archives of Baha’i Persecution in Iran; Iran Wire; Morteza Esmailipur’s YouTube; Dar Gozar-e TarikhTelegram; Payam-e Haq; Baha’i Instruction website, Abdorrahman Boroumand Center)
• After and because of the Cultural Revolution in 1980, she was forced to drop out of school and was expelled from the university along with other Baha’i students. Shiraz University refused to give her a post-graduate degree. (Uplifiting Words Blog)

Family

• She was unmarried. (Abdorrahman Boroumand Center)

Baha’i activities

• She taught moral education classes for Baha’i children (Abdorrahman Boroumand Center)

Arrest, trial and execution

• Akhtar was arrested at her family’s home in Shiraz on the night of October 22, or 23, 1982, and was detained at the city’s Revolutionary Guards detention center. (Archives of Baha’i Persecution; Adelabad Prison’s visitation card; “Olya’s Story”; Andalib Magazine; Morteza Esmailipur’s YouTube; Payam-e Haq, Abdorrahman Boroumand Center).
• Ms. Sabet Sarvestani endured severe physical and psychological torture during her detention because she was a member of the elected Baha’i administration. (Archives of Baha’i Persecution; Adelabad Prison’s visitation card; “Olya’s Story”; Andalib Magazine; Morteza Esmailipur’s YouTube; Payam-e Haq, Abdorrahman Boroumand Center)
• The section of the Prison where they lived was humid and moldy. Ms. Sabet Sarvestani had a good voice and would recite Monajat (Baha’i prayer) every morning and would prepare the necessities for her ward mates’ breakfast. (Archives of Baha’i Persecution; Adelabad Prison’s visitation card; “Olya’s Story”; Andalib Magazine; Morteza Esmailipur’s YouTube; Payam-e Haq, Abdorrahman Boroumand Center)
• Akhtar and her cellmates were considered “unclean” because they were Baha’i, and were treated in a demeaning manner. For instance, she and 25 of her ward mates were given only a single small wash tub to wash their clothes. (Archives of Baha’i Persecution; Adelabad Prison’s visitation card; “Olya’s Story”; Andalib Magazine; Morteza Esmailipur’s YouTube; Payam-e Haq, Abdorrahman Boroumand Center)
• In addition to providing [medical] treatment to her ward mates, she helped them in washing their clothes or performing their daily tasks while in prison. (Archives of Baha’i Persecution; Adelabad Prison’s visitation card; “Olya’s Story”; Andalib Magazine; Morteza Esmailipur’s YouTube; Payam-e Haq, Abdorrahman Boroumand Center)
• Following Akhtar’s arrest, the hospital administration, loathe to lose her services, entreated the government to release her, but the government refused to do so unless she agreed to give up her Faith. She would not. (bahaiteachings.org)
• The authorities gave Ms. Sabet Sarvestani numerous opportunities to reject her religion and convert to Islam. The Judge and the Revolutionary prosecutor both gave Ms. Sabet Sarvestani an ultimatum that she would be executed if she did not “repent”. (Khabar-e Jonoob newspaper, Feb 12, 1983; “Olya’s Story”; Iran Wire; Morteza Esmailipur’s YouTube, Abdorrahman Boroumand Center).
• Akhtar was charged with “being a Baha’i”, “membership in the Baha’i organization”, and “being single” (which is not a crime in Iranian law). (“Olya’s Story”; Payam-e Haq website; Baha’i Instruction website, Abdorrahman Boroumand Center)
• Charges: “direct or indirect” contact with “The House of Justice”  headquartered in Israel which follows [the dictates of] the State of Israel. (Khabar-e Jonoob newspaper, February 12, and 22, 1983, Abdorrahman Boroumand Center)
• Charges: “pursuant to Principle Thirteen of the Constitution, any activity by the Baha’is is unconstitutional, and organizing and establishing Assemblies, “Lajne” (“committees”), Parties, and the like, are all crimes.” (Khabar-e Jonoob newspaper, February 12, and 22, 1983, Abdorrahman Boroumand Center)
• In mid-February 1983, the Shiraz Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced Ms. Akhtar Sabet Sarvestani and 21 other individuals to death. The sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court. The authorities did not inform Ms. Sabet Sarvestani’s family of the Court’s decision. In justifying the sentence, however, the Head of the Shiraz Islamic Revolutionary Court stated in an interview with Khabar-e Jonoob newspaper: “It is a clear and unquestionable fact that there is not the slightest room for Baha’ism and Baha’is in the Islamic Republic of Iran.” He labeled the individuals sentenced to death as “Koffar Herabi” or “unclean”. As a result of the publication of this interview, the families of the prisoners went to see the Fars Province Friday Prayer Imam and the Province Governor, as well as the authorities in the capital, to make sure the news was accurate. (Khabar-e Jonoob newspaper, February 22, 1983, Abdorrahman Boroumand Center)
• On June 18, 1983, Ms. Akhtar Sabet Sarvestani, along with the other Baha’i women, was transferred to Shiraz’ Abdollah Mesgar military base, better known as Chogan (“Polo”) Square and forced to witness the hanging of other women. When it was her turn, she was given one last chance to reject her religion. She refused, and she too was hanged. (The Times newspaper, June 21, 1983; Archives of Baha’i Persecution in Iran, Abdorrahman Boroumand Center).
• Referring to her own death sentence, Akhtar assured her compatriots, “Never mind, I am not worried. Whatever happens, I am content with the will of God.” And to the interrogator who asked, “Even at the expense of your life do you intend to remain firm in your belief?” she responded, “I hope so, by the grace of God.” (bahaiteachings.org)
• Akhtar Sabet Sarvestani was 25 years old at the time of her execution. The guards let her family see her body, but they refused to let the family take the body for burial. Her place of burial is unknown. (Uplifiting Words Blog)

Citations

• Khabar-e Jonoob newspaper (February 12, and February 22, 1983);
• The New York Times (May 22, 1983);
• Sahifeye Imam (“The Imam’s Book”), Volume 17 (May 28, 1983);
• Baha’i World Almanac, Volume 18, 1979-1983 (Haifa, 1986);
• Shiraz’ Adelabad Prison’s visitation card (1983);
• an account of events as published in “A Tribute to the Faithful” by Mah Mehr Golestaneh (1992);
• the book “Olya’s Story” written by Olya Ruhizadegan, Andalib Magazine (Winter 1988);
• the Archives of Baha’i Persecution in Iran (undated);
• Morteza Esmailipur’s YouTube Channel (January 26, 2016; June 15, and July 6, 2016);
• Martyrs of the Baha’i Religion website (undated);
• Dar Gozar-e Tarikh (“Throughout History”) Telegram Channel (June18, 2019);
• and the Report of the United States Congressional Hearing published in the World Order Magazine (Winter 1983-1984);
• Baha’i Instruction website (June 12, 2017);
• Payam-e Haq website, the Baha’i faith’s messenger service, library, and information provider (21 July 2018).