Kasra Nouri, a Gonabadi dervish, was sentenced to 12 years in prison, flogging, and exile.
Reports indicate that Kasra Nouri, a Gonabadi dervish who was arrested during the clashes on Tehran's Gostan 7th Street, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.
According to the HRANA website, which publishes Iranian human rights news, Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced Kasra Nouri to 12 years of penal servitude, 74 lashes, 2 years of exile to Salas Babajani, 2 years of banishment from leaving the country, and 2 years of banishment from membership in political and social groups, parties, and groups, and from media activity.
Mr. Nouri is a graduate student in law and one of the administrators of the Majzooban Noor website, which publishes news about the Gonabadi dervishes.
The heavy sentence of Kasra Nouri and dozens of other Gonabadi dervishes comes at a time when many dervishes have protested in recent months about beatings during interrogation, lack of access to a lawyer, and lack of a fair trial. A number of dervishes also refused to appear in court because their legal rights were not respected. Other dervishes also considered the ideological questions and some of the issues raised in the indictment to be examples of inquisition and refused to appear in court.
A gathering of Gonabadi dervishes in front of the Pasdaran police station on the last day of February last year to protest the arrest of an elderly dervish turned violent with the intervention of plainclothes officers and police forces.
During these clashes, which continued until March 1, several police and Basij officers were killed, and hundreds of Gonabadi dervishes were arrested.
Source: Voice of America
