Noor Ali Tabandeh, the head of the Gonabadi Dervish lineage, returned to his hometown after a year and a half of house arrest.
Reports indicate that Noor Ali Tabandeh, the head of the Gonabadi Dervishes, has returned to his hometown of Bidakht after a year and a half of house arrest and in a secure environment.
Faezeh Abdipour, the wife of Mohammad Sharifi Moghadam Darvish, who is imprisoned in Fashafoyeh Prison, posted a video on her Twitter page, stating that Noor Ali Tabandeh, the head of the Gonabadi Dervish lineage, had announced to Bidakht County.
After 553 days of house arrest, Noorali Tabandeh left for Mehrabad Airport this afternoon to go to his hometown of Bidakht. Ms. Abdipour wrote in a tweet that Mr. Tabandeh left for the airport amid tight security in Golestan 7.
Following the widespread presence of security forces and plainclothes on February 4, 2017 in Golestan 7 in front of the house of Noor Ali Tabandeh, the head of the Gonabadi Dervish Order, a large number of Gonabadi Dervish took to the street to prevent the gathering of security forces and law enforcement in front of Noor Ali Tabandeh's house. They demanded that the situation in the area return to normal, and this gathering continued until February 1 of that year.
During a series of clashes between security forces and special forces with the Dervishes present at the scene, several police officers and Basij members were killed, and hundreds of Gonabadi Dervishes were severely beaten and arrested.
In recent years, a large number of Gonabadi dervishes have been arrested and imprisoned on security charges. They had declared that Noor Ali Tabandeh was their red line.
Following the arrests, 202 imprisoned Gonabadi dervishes were sentenced to a total of more than 1,080 years in prison. Mohammad Salas was one of the Gonabadi dervishes who was executed at dawn on June 19 on charges of murdering law enforcement officers. The US Secretary of State called the execution of the Gonabadi dervishes “cruel and unjust” and said the Iranian people deserve respect for human rights and freedom.
Source: Voice of America
