Four of the prisoners are on death row, two of them on charges of apostasy.
Arbitrary arrests occur regularly in many parts of the country.
Currently, the province of Khorasan, of which Mashhad is the capital, has become the focal point of this campaign. Of particular concern currently is the situation of Mr. Ruhollah Rohani who has been in prison in Mashhad since September 1997 without permission for relatives to visit him. His fate is not clear. The teacher, Mrs. Sonia Ahmadi, and the owner of the house, Mr. Manuchehr Ziai, along with twelve students aged fifteen and sixteen, were arrested and detained for one week. They were hastily sentenced without having the chance to engage a lawyer.