Islamic Republic judiciary sentences 30 dervishes

Thirty Gonabad dervishes in Iranian city of Charmahin of Esfahan province were sentenced to one year suspended jail term and cash fines.

Majzoban-e Noor, the official website of Gonabadi Dervishes, reports that these dervishes were charged with “disturbing public order and peace, insulting and disobeying officials and vandalizing public property.” The report however maintains that the dervishes were tried for “protesting against the destruction of their place of worship by the City two years ago.”

The court sentence also forbids the dervishes from holding their spiritual gatherings.

Dervishes all around Iran have been experiencing persecution by Islamic Republic authorities in recent years.

Last week, 24 Gonabad dervishes in Khorasan received court sentences which included imprisonment, floggings and exile.

The Gonabad dervishes have a four-hundred-year history of ceremonies and traditions in Iran which goes back to Shah Nematollah Vali, a 17th century mystic that is buried in Kerman.

These ceremonies and traditions have been heavily restricted by pressure from government services

In recent years, Iranian dervishes have been under severe pressure from Iranian Ministry of Intelligence with their centres destroyed the media prohibited from publishing any news related to dervishes.