A Group of Gonabadi Dervishes Writes to the Leaders of the Three Branches of Government Regarding the House Arrest of Nourali Tabandeh

A number of Gonabadi dervishes have submitted a declaration to the heads of the three branches of government and several other officials of the Islamic Republic, demanding accountability regarding the house arrest of Nourali Tabandeh, the leader of the Gonabadi dervishes. In Iranian law, a declaration is used to formally announce a subject to an individual or to claim a legal right from them before filing a lawsuit. According to the Majzooban Noor website, the signatories of this declaration addressed the heads of the three branches and the ministers of interior, information, and justice, stating that if they do not receive a response, they will consider visiting Mr. Tabandeh's residence and meeting him as their legal right. These Gonabadi dervishes requested that within one week, the authorities officially announce the reasons and the decision-making body regarding Mr. Tabandeh's house arrest so that they can pursue legal objections and complaints with relevant domestic and international authorities. They emphasized several principles of the Constitution, including the principle of presumption of innocence, stating that if they do not receive a response, they will assume there should be no restrictions on Mr. Tabandeh and will consider meeting him as their legal right. Since the end of Bahman last year, when clashes occurred on Pasdaran Street, Mr. Tabandeh has been under house arrest. Meanwhile, the families of several imprisoned dervishes intended to visit him at his home on October 20, to celebrate his 92nd birthday, but security forces prevented their entry. During the clashes in Bahman last year, about five hundred dervishes were arrested, over 350 of whom are still imprisoned, and long-term prison sentences have been issued for dozens of them. Several sources, including Human Rights Watch, have reported that on September 7, security forces violently attacked a group of dervishes who were on hunger strike in Fashafouyeh prison in Tehran. Since then, several dervishes have been transferred to solitary confinement, and the fate of eight of them, named Reza Entesari, Mohammad Sharifi-Moghadam, Kasra Noori, Morteza Kangarlu Bilchi, Sina Entesari, Mehdi Eskandari, Amir Noori, and Hesam Moeini, remains unknown. Mohammad Reza Thalath, one of the Gonabadi dervishes, was accused by the court of running over three police officers with a bus and was executed on June 18. Zainab Taheri, Thalath's lawyer, insisted that he was innocent; Amnesty International also stated that his execution 'sacrifices justice.' After Thalath's execution, his defense lawyer was arrested after announcing that he intended to publish 'documents of his client's innocence' but was released after some time. Mohammad Raji, another Gonabadi dervish arrested during the Pasdaran events, died a few days after his arrest in Esfand last year. However, judicial officials of the Islamic Republic claim he was killed due to injuries sustained during the clashes on Pasdaran Street.