Noor Ali Tabandeh, Leader of Gonabadi Dervishes, Transferred to Hospital
Noor Ali Tabandeh, the supreme leader of the Gonabadi Dervishes, was transferred to Mehr Hospital in Tehran following a serious deterioration in his health and severe physical weakness.
According to a report by the Campaign to Defend Political and Civil Prisoners, the supreme leader of the Gonabadi Dervishes, who had been refusing food and medicine since Thursday, November 9, in support of imprisoned dervishes and in protest of their treatment conditions in prisons, was transferred to Mehr Hospital on Tuesday, November 14, following a serious health deterioration and severe physical weakness.
Aliresa Roshan, one of the managers of the Mojazuban-e Noor news website, also confirmed this news in a conversation with Voice of America.
Based on this report, following Mr. Tabandeh’s transfer to the hospital, on Wednesday, November 15, a number of Gonabadi Dervishes gathered at Mehr Hospital to monitor the physical condition and health of this leader of the Gonabadi Dervishes.
Previously, Mr. Roshan told Voice of America that 71 imprisoned Gonabadi Dervishes, along with a number of dervishes outside prison, began a hunger strike starting Sunday, November 12, in protest of the current situation of dervishes and following Noor Ali Tabandeh’s refusal to eat food and medicine.
When starting their strike, these imprisoned dervishes had asked Mr. Tabandeh to end his refusal to eat food. Their other demands included removing the security focus on Gonabadi Dervishes, reopening the Amir Soleimani Husayniyah in Tehran, and lifting restrictions on Mr. Noor Ali Tabandeh to freely visit his supporters.
On February 4, 2018, following a widespread presence of security forces and plainclothes agents in front of Noor Ali Tabandeh’s house at Haftom Golestan, the supreme leader of the Gonabadi Dervishes, a series of clashes occurred between security forces and special units with Gonabadi Dervishes present at Haftom Golestan, resulting in the deaths of several police officers and Basij members, and hundreds of Gonabadi Dervishes were severely beaten and arrested.
Following these clashes, 202 imprisoned Gonabadi Dervishes were sentenced to a total of over 1,080 years in prison.
Mohammad Sallase was one of the Gonabadi Dervishes who was arrested on charges of killing law enforcement officers in these clashes and was executed at dawn on June 19.
The US Secretary of State called the execution of this Gonabadi Dervish “cruel and unjust” and said that the Iranian people deserve respect for human rights and freedom.
The United States has also repeatedly condemned the suppression of followers of religious and sectarian minorities, including dervishes, Bahá’ís, Christian converts, and even Sunni Muslims by the Islamic Republic regime.
Source: Voice of America
