Continued violations of the rights of imprisoned dervishes; eight imprisoned dervishes went on hunger strike
Following the continued pressure on imprisoned dervishes and their deprivation of basic and legal rights, eight dervishes in Fashafoyeh Prison (Greater Tehran Penitentiary) went on a hunger strike.
According to Majzooban Noor, which publishes news about the Gonabadi dervishes, Zafar Ali Moghimi, Mohsen Azizi, Mohammad Bagher Moghimi, Ali Jamshidi, Hossein Fahimi, Mustafa Shirazian, and Mohammad Ali Karami are eight dervishes who have gone on a hunger strike to protest the widespread violation of the rights of other imprisoned dervishes.
Also, Ahmad Iranikhah, a theater and cinema director and imprisoned dervishes, has refused to appear in court in protest of the lack of access to a lawyer and the failure to observe legal procedures in the dervishes' case.
He has considered the ideological questions of the Revolutionary Court judges to be an example of inquisition.
Majzooban Noor also reported that Ayoub Asadi, a prisoner of war, was transferred to the hospital for only a few hours after his MS worsened and then returned to prison.
The stress caused by the poor prison conditions and lack of access to medicine and medical facilities have exacerbated Mr. Asadi's illness.
A day earlier, it was reported that security officers arrived at the hospital and announced that if Dr. Nazila Nouri, a female prisoner of faith, was not tied to the bed with handcuffs and shackles, she would be returned to prison.
He is scheduled for surgery on the advice of his doctors, but his family members are also prevented from being present at the hospital.
A gathering of Gonabadi dervishes in front of the Pasdaran police station on February 4 last year to protest the arrest of an elderly dervish turned violent with the intervention of plainclothes officers and police forces. During these clashes, several police officers and Basij 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 institutions. 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
