Mustafa Daneshju, Lawyer for Gonabadi Dervishes, Arrested

Reports from Iran indicate the arrest of Mustafa Daneshju, one of the lawyers for the Gonabadi dervishes, in the early hours of Sunday, July 8. Previously, Zeynab Taheri, the defense lawyer for Mohammad Thalath, a dervish accused of killing three police officers, had also been arrested. The website Majzoban Noor, which publishes news related to the Gonabadi dervishes in Iran, reported that 'seven armed agents' arrested this lawyer. According to the report, these agents stormed the home of Mustafa Daneshju's mother, breaking down the door and drawing weapons to arrest the lawyer in front of his family members. Majzoban Noor stated that they had an arrest warrant from the 'Third Branch of the Security Prosecutor's Office' in Iran, and there is currently no information on his transfer location after the arrest. The website also reported that Mustafa Daneshju's mother, wife, and young daughter were taken to the hospital emergency room following the agents' attack on their home. This website had previously reported that Mustafa Daneshju, a lawyer and defender of the rights of Gonabadi dervishes, had been expelled from university and deprived of continuing his graduate studies 'by direct order' of security agencies. According to this report, Daneshju's license to practice law had also been revoked earlier due to his defense of the rights of dervishes, based on reports from security agencies. He was imprisoned between 2011 and 2015 for representing dervish cases and believing in the Gonabadi path. Following the execution of Mohammad Thalath, who was accused of killing three police officers with a bus during the dervish protests around the home of Nour Ali Tabandeh, the leader of the Gonabadi dervishes, on February 19 of last year, Zeynab Taheri, his defense lawyer, was also arrested. Ms. Taheri has repeatedly stated that her client is 'innocent' and has provided 'evidence' indicating 'a determined effort by a hidden hand to prevent a fair investigation' into Thalath's case. After Thalath's execution, she tweeted that she intends to publish 'documents of her client's innocence.' Meanwhile, the Tehran prosecutor described Taheri as someone who did not have 'sufficient knowledge' of her client's case, inciting public opinion and 'mobilizing anti-revolutionaries against the judiciary.' According to Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the prosecutor, 'hostile' media published reports against the judiciary based on Taheri's statement that Thalath was innocent. After last year's dervish gathering around their leader's home, which turned violent due to the intervention of plainclothes forces, hundreds of them were arrested, with prison sentences, exile, and lashes issued for some detainees. 'Conspiracy against security,' 'action against national security,' 'disturbance of public order,' and 'disobedience to police orders' are the same charges that have been raised against several dervishes. Some Gonabadi dervishes have also been tried in the Tehran Criminal Court, with charges of 'disturbance of public order and comfort' announced, and according to reports, heavier charges have been determined for dervishes whose cases are being handled in the Revolutionary Court. Judicial officials of the Islamic Republic have yet to respond to the hunger strike of several imprisoned dervishes in protest against the house arrest of Nour Ali Tabandeh and the poor conditions of some of their co-religionists in prisons.