Police Threaten to Bury Mohammad Raji at Night; Family Refuses

Mohammad Raji's daughter, a Gonabadi dervish who lost his life during detention, reported in an interview with Radio Farda that police officers threatened Raji's family, demanding the 'night burial' of his body, which the family refused. Tayebeh Raji stated on Tuesday, March 5, that police threatened her mother that if Mr. Raji's body was not buried on Tuesday night, it would no longer be returned to the family. According to Ms. Raji, police also informed her family that 'no morgue in Tehran will accept the body' and sent it to Aligudarz (Mr. Raji's birthplace and residence). She also mentioned that in Aligudarz, the body has not been handed over to Mr. Raji's family and remains with the police. Ms. Raji further stated that police had asked her mother to bury the body 'at night,' but the family of this Gonabadi dervish did not agree to this. Referring to police statements, she also mentioned that they said Mr. Raji's body had been autopsied and the results would be announced in two months. On Sunday, Tayebeh Raji had also told Radio Farda that according to police, her father 'fell into a coma due to inflicted blows' and died. She also said that her father had been 'severely beaten' during his arrest on March 1 and was in 'critical condition,' but 'moved his hand' afterward and had no contact with the family since. The Majzooban Noor website, which covers news about Gonabadi dervishes, had previously reported that Mr. Raji was killed due to inflicted blows during 'interrogation.' However, Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi, the Tehran prosecutor, stated that Mr. Raji was killed in a clash between dervishes and police forces on Pasdaran Street. Meanwhile, Tayebeh Raji said on Tuesday that security agents informed the son-in-law of this Gonabadi dervish that he died due to 'beating' in this clash at the hospital. She emphasized that the responsibility for her father's death lies with the police and security forces who 'beat' him and that the family had received no information in the past 15 days. Reports indicate that Mohammad Ali Raji, Mr. Raji's son, born in 1995, was also arrested during the clashes on Pasdaran Street and is currently in Fashafouyeh prison. At the same time, Tayebeh Raji stated on Tuesday that despite officials' promises for her brother's release, he has not even been granted leave. Reports indicate that Mohammad Raji was a former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and was chemically injured during the Iran-Iraq war. According to the Majzooban Noor website, after separating from the IRGC in 2004, he had been engaged in agriculture in the village of Mazra'abād in Aligudarz. Previously, there were also reports about the deaths of three detained dervishes in the hospital, and Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the judiciary spokesperson, confirmed the death of one dervish in the hospital, although he did not mention the name of this individual at that time. In recent days, videos and photos of severe 'beatings' of detained dervishes and reports of 'head, jaw, and several teeth fractures' and the poor physical condition of some of them have been published. Judiciary officials have emphasized the 'swift and expedited' punishment of detained Gonabadi dervishes involved in the clashes on Pasdaran Street, and the commander of Tehran's police announced that the driver of the bus, who allegedly ran over three police officers, causing their deaths, would be executed before the end of the year. Meanwhile, on Saturday, 87 political and civil activists issued a statement emphasizing that the published news about the 'immediate and expedited trial' of detained dervishes 'preemptively undermines the principle of court independence and impartiality.' The emphasis of the Islamic Republic officials on punishing detained Gonabadi dervishes comes as a protest gathering of Gonabadi dervishes around the house of Nour Ali Tabandeh, the leader of this order, turned violent due to the intervention of security forces and motorcyclists in plain clothes on Tuesday, February 19. Previously, the Human Rights Defenders Center, chaired by Shirin Ebadi, reported in its February report on human rights violations in Iran that 'the source of many unfortunate events in street protests is the presence and intervention of Basij forces at the scene of the incident.' The Gonabadi dervishes' gathering on Tuesday, February 19, initially began in front of Police Station 102 in Pasdaran, northern Tehran, in protest against the arrest of a dervish named Nematollah Riahi. About two weeks prior, Gonabadi dervishes had gathered after reports of a checkpoint being established near Nour Ali Tabandeh's house, which also turned violent due to the intervention of security agents. The actions of the Islamic Republic against this group intensified in 2005, when widespread destruction of Gonabadi dervish prayer houses began in various cities of Iran, followed by the arrest of many dervishes. The Human Rights Defenders Center wrote in an open letter to the UN Secretary-General in 2014 that Gonabadi dervishes have faced 'continuous harassment such as imprisonment, deprivation of social rights, threats...' for over 15 years.