Trial of a Dervish Without Legal Representative; Mohsen Azizi Sentenced to Three Years in Prison

Niloofar Doulatabadi told Voice of America that Mohsen Azizi was not allowed to visit with his family for more than a month after his arrest, which could be timed to allow the bruises on his body from beatings during arrest to disappear.

On March 21, 2018, Mohsen Azizi, following the widespread presence of security forces and plainclothes agents at Golestan Haftom in front of the house of Noor Ali Tabandeh, the leader of the Gonabadi dervishes, was arrested along with hundreds of other dervishes through beatings by security forces and transferred to Fashafuyeh Prison.

Niloofar Doulatabadi says that our only demand as the family of imprisoned dervishes is the implementation of the law by government officials.

The United States has in recent years protested in human rights reports the widespread violation of the rights of religious and ethnic minorities in Iran, and the U.S. State Department spokesman tweeted on the occasion of Cyrus Day, urging the Islamic Republic to learn from Cyrus about his leadership and to stop the persecution of Baha’is, Evangelical Christians, Gonabadi dervishes, and other minority groups in Iran.