The show trial of an innocent Qatari Baha’i dignitary, Remy Rowhani, is set to proceed this week just as Human Rights Watch and two prominent British human rights lawyers denounce the baseless allegations against Mr. Rowhani and call for his release.

Mr. Rowhani was detained on 28 April 2025 on unfounded charges relating to the Qatari Baha’i community’s X social media account—which was created five years ago, publishing messages celebrating Qatari public holidays and quotes from Baha’i writings—and his detention has been extended several times. He will appear in court on 18 June and, if found guilty, faces a jail term of up to three years and/or a fine of almost US $30,000.

The Baha’i International Community (BIC) rejects all charges against Mr. Rowhani and urges the authorities in Qatar to yield to international pressure by releasing him without delay.

“Qatar likes to present itself as part of a modern Arab Region, at the cutting edge of progress,” said Dr. Saba Haddad, BIC Representative to the United Nations in Geneva. “But their actions drown out their words. Remy Rowhani is innocent of the charges against him—charges designed by Qatari authorities to harass him and to terrorise Qatar’s Baha’i community. If the government wishes to protect its international reputation as a defender of basic human rights, then Mr. Rowhani must go free.”

The case against Mr. Rowhani reflects a wider pattern of systematic discrimination against Qatar’s Baha’i community. In a May 2025 release, Human Rights Watch detailed the government’s longstanding and ongoing campaign of discriminatory treatment—adding that this has created an “environment of fear” among Baha’is in the country.

“The Baha’i community of Qatar has endured decades of government discrimination and intimidation, and authorities have consistently ignored community leaders' repeated efforts to engage the government in dialogue and seek redress,” said Michael Page, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “This state-sponsored discrimination poses a threat to the very existence of the Baha’i community of Qatar.”

And on 13 June, two senior lawyers at Doughty Street Chambers in London, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws LT KC and Steven Powles KC, issued a statement saying: “These new charges [against Remy Rowhani] highlight the lengths to which the authorities in Qatar are prepared to go to erase the Baha’is from their country,” adding that “such action is contrary to all of Qatar’s international legal obligations.” 

Mr. Rowhani—who has served as director of the International Chamber of Commerce’s Middle East and North Africa regional office, in Doha, and is a member of the Qatari Baha’i community’s elected national governing body—also spent a previous month in prison after being detained on another set of false charges in December 2024.

Qatar’s entire Baha’i community—which has existed for over 75 years, since well before the modern state of Qatar was established—has faced systematic discrimination for decades. Baha’is are denied official certificates of good conduct (“blacklisted,” barring them from employment and other rights and benefits) without cause and many Qatari Baha’is have been denied residency permits and other documents. Families have been separated as a result and the BIC has warned that the entire Baha’i community risks being “erased” from the country due to these measures.