A Story of Elham and Jafar Ahmadi; A Dervish Couple Both Behind Bars
«Elham Ahmadi» and her husband «Jafar Ahmadi» are among the Gonabadi dervishes who, along with hundreds of other dervishes, were arrested and beaten following the Golestan Haftom protests on March 21, 2018. Ms. Ahmadi has recently been sentenced to lashing following a complaint by the prison warden.
Alireza Roshan, one of the managers of the Majzoubane Noor news website, told Voice of America that Elham Ahmadi, following a complaint from Mohammadi, the warden of Qarchak Prison, was sentenced to 148 lashes on charges of spreading lies and insulting officials in the line of duty in branch 1145 of the criminal court without having a lawyer present, after she sent unfavorable news about the physical condition of Shahnaaz Kian Asl, one of the imprisoned dervish women, outside the prison in April of this year. She is currently banned from visits.
Ms. Ahmadi was sentenced to 5 years in prison by the primary court on charges of disturbing public order and assembly and collusion to undermine national security, a sentence that was reduced to 2 years by the appeals court. She is currently serving her sentence in Qarchak Prison.
Her husband, Jafar Ahmadi, was also sentenced by the primary court to 7 years in prison, banishment, and social deprivations on the same charges, and is currently imprisoned in Fashafuyeh Prison.
Alireza Roshan told Voice of America that these two Gonabadi prisoners have two young children who are currently living with one of their relatives.
On November 26 of this year, Elham Ahmadi, along with two other imprisoned dervish women named Shokufeh Yadollahi and Sepideh Moradi, when they sought to retrieve their personal belongings from the authorities of Qarchak Prison, were beaten on the orders of Mohammadi, the warden of this prison.
These imprisoned women were previously transferred in June to the ward of prisoners convicted of murder, theft, and narcotics offenses due to their reporting on the non-standard conditions of this prison, which was formerly a poultry farm.
The United States has protested in recent years in its human rights reports the widespread violation of the rights of religious and ethnic minorities in Iran, and the U.S. State Department spokesperson, in a tweet marking Cyrus Day, called on the Islamic Republic to learn from Cyrus about his leadership and to stop the prosecution of Baha’is, Christian converts, Gonabadi dervishes, and other minority groups in Iran.
Source: Voice of America
