Legal
Loophole
Iranian
laws do not specifically prohibit contact or communication with Baha’is, therefore
meeting with Baha’is is not technically illegal. However, the Iranian
Constitution includes a loophole that could be used to punish minorities above
and beyond the law.
Article
167 of the Constitution states: “The judge is bound to endeavor to judge each
case on the basis of the codified law. In case of the absence of any such law,
he has to deliver his judgment on the basis of authoritative Islamic sources
and authentic Fatwas [religious decrees]. He, on the pretext of the silence of
or deficiency of law in the matter, or its brevity or contradictory nature,
cannot refrain from admitting and examining cases and delivering his judgment.”
Faezeh
Hashemi’s critics are now referring to religious decrees (fatwas) against
Baha’is, including those issued by the supreme leader, to build a case against
her