A Doha court sentenced the chair of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is in Qatar to five years in prison on August 13, 2025, based solely on exercising his rights to freedom of speech and religion, the Baha'i International Community and Human Rights Watch said today. Qatari authorities should urgently quash the conviction and release him.
Qatari authorities charged Remy Rowhani, 71, with promoting a doctrine or ideology that "casts doubt on the foundations and teachings of Islam" under article 259 of the penal code. They also charged him with violating social principles and values using information technology, under article 8 of the 2014 Cybercrime Prevention Law, and disseminating material that calls and promotes the adoption of "destructive principles," under article 47(b) of the 1979 Law on Publications and Publishing, based on court documents reviewed by Human Rights Watch.
"Imprisoning Remy Rowhani on a series of baseless charges rooted solely in his religious identity and activities is a serious breach of human rights law and a grave violation of the right to freedom of religion or belief," said Saba Haddad, the Baha'i International Community representative to the United Nations in Geneva. "This attack on Remy Rowhani is an attack on all Baha'is in Qatar-and on the very principle of freedom of conscience."
The Bahai religion embraces all faiths and believes in the unity of all people. Baha'i followers are frequently discriminated against in the region and persecuted in Iran.
The charges were based on an X account and an Instagram account that represent the Qatari Baha'i community linked to Rowhani's phone number and e-mail address. Human Rights Watch reviewed the posts, which were limited to celebrating Qatari and Muslim holidays and Baha'i values. The Baha'i International Community said the posts discussed "principles such as justice and the equality of men and women, honoring parents and raising children with good manners, and calling for good deeds and service to humanity."
Qatari authorities claimed that Rowhani violated public order and religious and social values by promoting Baha'i values on social media, based on court documents Human Rights Watch reviewed.
Qatari authorities routinely demonize Baha'is based on Islamic rulings that likely incite hatred against them, the Baha'i International Community and Human Rights Watch said.
Rowhani was arrested on April 28, 2025, and had been held in pretrial detention since then. An informed source told Human Rights Watch that the court denied Rowhani's lawyer's request to review court documents outlining the charges and evidence against Rowhani. The court also did not allow Rowhani's lawyer to defend his client during an initial hearing on June 18 or to access legal documents, the source said.
The court documents also alleged that Rowhani collected donations and transferred funds without a license for the benefit of Baha'i individuals and entities abroad, an arrangement already known to authorities, the informed source said. Rowhani had previously been arrested on December 23, 2024, and fined 50,000 Qatari rial (about US$13,700) and sentenced to a month in prison for collecting funds in 2013 and 2014 "without permission from the Board [of Directors of the Regulatory Authority for Charitable Activities]," the court documents said.
This charge was based on Rowhani's collecting voluntary donations, a religious obligation central to the Baha'i faith. The right of Baha'is to practice their religion, in public and in private, in Qatar and elsewhere is protected by article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Qatar has a long-standing record of discriminating against Baha'is, including by deportation, delaying the community's attempts to reestablish an existing Baha'i cemetery, and refusing to register marriage certificates issued by elected Baha'i institutions in Qatar. Baha'is have also faced discrimination in Egypt and Yemen, and the crime against humanity of persecution in Iran.
The United Nations experts on freedom of religion or belief, the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, and the field of cultural right, and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention expressed their grave concerns about discrimination against the Baha'i religious minority in Qatar, and Rowhani's arbitrary arrest and detention in a joint statement on July 31.
"Imprisoning Remy Rowhani for five years, on a series of abusive charges rooted solely in his religious identity and activities within the Qatari Baha'i community is a serious breach of human rights law" said Michael Page, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Qatari authorities should respect fundamental freedoms and immediately release Rowhani."
