Trial of Hundreds of Dervishes 'Without Access to a Lawyer' and Obtaining 'Forced Confessions'

Following reports about the trial of 'hundreds' of Gonabadi dervishes, a Telegram channel close to this group reported the obtaining of 'forced confessions' from the defendants against the managers and journalists of the Majzoban Noor website. The Telegram channel 'Dervish Press', which reflects news about Gonabadi dervishes after the closure of the Majzoban Noor website, announced that the Tehran Revolutionary Court presented 'confessions' during the trial session of several detained dervishes in which the defendants wrote and signed statements against the managers and journalists of Majzoban Noor. According to this report, some dervishes called these confessions 'fake' and stated that officials from the Tehran Security Prosecutor's Office and the Great Tehran Prison provided them with 'blank papers' and forcibly obtained their signatures 'under the pretext of explaining the charges'. Four managers and several journalists from the Majzoban Noor website were arrested following clashes last February between dervishes and security forces. After these clashes, Nourali Tabandeh, the leader of the Gonabadi dervishes, 'disavowed' the Majzoban Noor website, which published news about the dervishes. Following his latest statement, the Majzoban Noor website also announced that it would cease its activities and block all its social media accounts. In recent days, some websites have reported on the trial of several Gonabadi dervishes in the Revolutionary Court. According to these reports, Shokufe Yadollahi, Maryam Farsiyabi, Masoumeh Barakouhi, Shahnaz Kiani, Sediqeh Safabakht, Elham Ahmadi, Sepideh Moradi, Mehdi Bakhtiari, Majid Moradi, Manouchehr Kookabi, Omid Ghasemi, Amin Safari, and Siamak Sohrabi are among the Gonabadi dervishes who have been transferred to the Revolutionary Court for trial. Meanwhile, the International Federation for Human Rights reported the trial of 'hundreds' of detained Gonabadi dervishes accompanied by 'secrecy' and called this action a 'mockery of justice' and a 'clear violation of international standards'. This group emphasized on its website that this action is 'even a disregard for the flawed criminal procedure of the Islamic Republic'. According to this report, the trial of 'hundreds' of Gonabadi dervishes began on Saturday, 22 Ordibehesht, in branches 15 and 26 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran. According to the website of the International Federation for Human Rights, judicial authorities have 'deprived these Gonabadi dervishes of having a lawyer of their choice' and rejected requests from 'renowned and reputable lawyers' to represent them. Meanwhile, Abdolkarim Lahiji, the head of the Society for the Defense of Human Rights in Iran and honorary president of the International Federation for Human Rights, called on lawyers to 'end their silence and at least remind officials of the right of all defendants to have a chosen defense lawyer'. The identical charges against several dervishes include 'conspiracy and collusion against security', 'action against national security', 'disturbance of public order', and 'disobedience to police orders'. Meanwhile, Moussa Ghazanfarpour, the head of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, also revealed the referral of the cases of over 70 Gonabadi dervishes to the Revolutionary Court and announced their charges as 'security-related'. On Tuesday, 30 Bahman 96, a protest gathering of Gonabadi dervishes around the house of Nourali Tabandeh, the leader of this order, escalated into violence due to the intervention of security forces and plainclothes motorcyclists. Reports indicate that over 500 Gonabadi dervishes were arrested during the clashes on Pasdaran Street in Tehran, with reports of severe 'beatings' of the detained dervishes and 'fractures of the skull, jaw, and several teeth' and poor physical condition of some of them. Mohammad Raji, a detained Gonabadi dervish, also died a few days after his arrest. While the Majzoban Noor website reported that this Gonabadi dervish was killed during 'interrogation', judicial officials denied that Mr. Raji was killed in police custody, claiming he was killed during the clashes in the street. Mohammadreza Thalath, one of the Gonabadi dervishes, was sentenced to death for allegedly running over three police officers with a bus during these clashes. Previously, the International Federation for Human Rights, noting that Mohammad Thalath denied the charge of intentional murder, called for the execution sentence of this imprisoned dervish to be halted and for him to be tried 'fairly'.