Members of a family of Gonabadi dervishes sentenced to a total of 25 years in prison
Reports indicate that in the continuation of the trial of the dervishes arrested in the Golestan 7th Street incidents, members of a family of Gonabadi dervishes have been sentenced to a total of 25 years in prison.
The Majzooban Noor Twitter account, which publishes news about Gonabadi dervishes, announced in several messages on Sunday, August 11, that Kasra Nouri, Pouria Nouri, and Amir Nouri, who were arrested along with their mother in the Golestan 7th Street incident in Tehran's Pasdaran neighborhood, have been sentenced to 12, 2, and 6 years in prison, respectively.
Majzooban Noor also reported that Shokofeh Yadollahi Darvish, imprisoned in Qarchak Prison, was sentenced to five years in prison and two years of ban and deprivation from social and media activities by Judge Salavati, head of Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court.
On March 2, 2017, Ms. Yadollahi was attacked by plainclothes forces along with hundreds of Gonabadi dervishes, including her three children.
On the other hand, some reports indicate that Ms. Yadollahi has announced the deterioration of her health in an audio file.
Previously, news sites had reported that Kasra Nouri had been sentenced to 12 years in prison, 74 lashes, two years of exile to the Babajani prison, a two-year ban on leaving the country, and a two-year ban on membership in political and social groups, parties, and groups, as well as 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 of them have protested in recent months about being beaten during interrogation, lack of access to a lawyer, and lack of a fair trial.
A number of dervishes also refused to appear in court due to the lack of respect for their legal rights. Other dervishes also refused to appear in court, considering the ideological questions and some of the issues raised in the indictment to be examples of inquisition.
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.
In recent months, alarming news has been published about the violation of the rights of imprisoned dervishes, which has drawn reactions from international organizations. For example, on May 16, the International Federation of Human Rights Societies, referring to the trial of the detained Gonabadi dervishes with "undercover work," called this action a "farce of justice" and a "blatant violation of international standards."
In March of last year, the US State Department, while condemning the repression of the Gonabadi Dervishes, reacted to the suspicious death of one of these dervishes in detention, describing it as worrying.
Source: Voice of America
