Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Leopoldo López Gil hosted a screening of “Others in their Own Land”, a documentary film on the institutionalised persecution of the Baha’is in Iran.

“The Baha’is have been subjected to countless forms of repression” said MEP López Gil in his introductory remarks, “suffering from home raids and unlawful arrests, arbitrary detention, forced disappearances, torture and violations of the due process.” He added that despite a “systematic and brutal state policy to destroy all of them” the documentary “perfectly emphasises the resilience of the Baha’i community and their strength of spirit against these adversities.”

Fifty representatives from the European Parliament, civil society and media participated in a lively discussion after the screening, and engaged with filmmaker Mr. Farid Haerinejad who shared what prompted him to make the documentary and why he was touched by the posture of the Baha’i community in the face of the persecutions.

Participants noted the timeliness of the screening, given the increasingly violent and repressive actions the Iranian authorities undertake against their own citizens and the ongoing crackdown against Iran’s Baha’is.