Bahar Tahzib of The Spinney was in her early 20s when her 62-year-old father, Yusef Sobhani, was executed in 1980.

He was a highly regarded member of the persecuted religious minority Baha'i community.

Mrs Tahzib said: "I remember when it happened. It was devastating."

Mrs Tahzib's uncle, Jamaloddin Khanjani, and six other Baha'is leaders, have now just passed the first anniversary of their arrest.

They are held in the notorious Evin prison in Tehran, where torture of political prisoners is well documented.

Amnesty International says the five men are believed to be held in one cell of about 10m² without beds.

Visits by their families are still restricted and they have been denied access to lawyers.

Mrs Tahzib said: "The very real fear now is that the same thing that happened to my father will happen to my uncle, who is equally innocent of any crime.

"They have recently, in the last few week, brought a new informal charge of spreading corruption on earth and the penalty for that is death."

The Baha'i Faith originated in Iran but now has a worldwide community estimated at some five million people. It believes in humanity as a single race and in world unification.

Amnesty International has called for the immediate and unconditional release of Mr Khanjani and called on its members to write urgently to the Iranian government.

A spokesman at the Iranian Embassy in London declined to comment on the situation.

For the full report, see the May 28 edition of the Mid Sussex Times.