A story about Elham and Jafar Ahmadi, a dervish couple who are both prisoners.
Elham Ahmadi and her husband Jafar Ahmadi are Gonabadi dervishes who, along with hundreds of other dervishes, were arrested and beaten following the Golestan 7 protests on March 2, 2017. Ms. Ahmadi was recently sentenced to flogging following a complaint by the prison warden.
Alireza Roshan, one of the managers of the Majzooban Noor news website, told VOA that Elham Ahmadi, following a complaint by Mohammadi, the head of Qarchak Prison, after sending news of the poor physical condition of Shahnaz Kian Asl, one of the imprisoned women, was released from prison in May of this year. He was sentenced to 148 lashes in Branch 1145 of the Criminal Court without a lawyer, on charges of spreading lies and insulting officers while on duty. He is currently banned from visiting them.
Ms. Ahmadi was sentenced to 5 years in prison in the first instance court on charges of disturbing public order and gatherings and collusion with the intention of disrupting national security. This sentence was reduced to 2 years in the appeals court, and she is currently serving her sentence in Qarchak Prison.
Her husband, Jafar Ahmadi, was also sentenced to 7 years in prison, exile, and social deprivation in the first instance court on the same charges, and is currently imprisoned in Fashafoyeh Prison.
Alireza Roshan told VOA that the two Gonabadi prisoners have two young children who are currently living with a relative.
On December 25 of this year, Elham Ahmadi, along with two other female Dervish prisoners, Shokofeh Yadollahi and Sepideh Moradi, were beaten on the orders of Mohammadi, the head of the prison, when they demanded the return of their personal belongings from Qarjak prison officials.
These female prisoners had previously been transferred to the ward for prisoners convicted of murder, robbery, and drug offenses in June for reporting on the substandard conditions of the prison, which was formerly a poultry farm.
In recent years, the United States has protested in human rights reports about widespread violations of the rights of religious and ethnic minorities in Iran, and in a tweet on the occasion of Cyrus Day, the US State Department spokesperson called on the Islamic Republic to learn from Cyrus about his leadership and stop the prosecution of Baha'is, Christian converts, Gonabadi Dervishes, and other minority groups in Iran.
Source: Voice of America
