A number of Iranian political prisoners have issued a statement protesting the unjust verdict against Gonabadi Dervishes and calling for their immediate release who after unfair trial and unfounded accusations were sentenced to almost 60 years of imprisonment.
Iranian political prisoners called to abandon charges and quash the verdicts which are all against the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran. They urged the Iranian authorities to free these devotees and followers of Imam Ali (AS), the great Martyr for justice and the Household of the Prophet (pbuh).
According to Kaleme, following the unjust and wrongful convictions of seven Gonabadi Dervish lawyers and managers of Majzooban Noor website, Messrs. Hamid Reza Moradi Sarvestani, Reza Entesari, Mostafa Daneshjou, Farshid Yadollahi, Amir Eslami, Omid Behroozi and Afshin Karampour who have been arrested since Shahrivar 1390 (September 2011) and after spending almost two years in prison without trial, received a range of sentences between 10.5 and 7.5 years, a number of Iranian political prisoners issued a statement protesting against this heavy charges, demanding the release of Dervish prisoners.
They said in the statement : “This sentencing court is one of the most tragic judicial documents which again reduces public confidence in Iranian justice system.”
The full text of the letter is as follows:
In the name of God
“Branch 15 of Tehran Revolutionary Court recently announced prison sentences of almost 60 years of imprisonment against seven Nematollahi Gonabadi Dervishes, Messrs. Hamid Reza Moradi Sarvestani, Reza Entesari, Mostafa Daneshjou, Farshid Yadollahi, Amir Eslami, Omid Behroozi and Afshin Karampour on false accusations and during an illegal process.
In the indictment that has been issued, there are some phrases such as:”Join the Cult of anti-security Sufism”, “Membership in Illegal Group” and “Propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran” while as far back as records go, the remembrance of God circles (Dhikr) of the Sufis has been in Iran and in fact they have never been active politically as a group. Sufism is one of the popular brands of religious orientation in Islam/Shiite Muslims. They have always lived in society harmonious, peaceful and stable from centuries ago. Therefore, the judiciary’s proceeding against the Dervishes, particularly the responsible judges who criminated the Dervishes of setting up an illegal group to harm national security, indicates a lack of knowledge and understanding of the historical roots of origin of this religious movement that has been formally approved by many scholars and religious leaders. Unfortunately the sentence against Dervishes is one of the most tragic judicial documents which again reduces public confidence in Iranian justice system. We now, the signatories of this statement, by considering the unfair trails and also unrelated charges against Dervishes and these such actions that violate the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, especially in its third season about “freedom of thought and expression”, demand the immediate and unconditional release of these devotees and followers of Imam Ali (AS), the great Martyr for justice and the Household of the Prophet (pbuh).”
Abolfazl Ghadyani
Mostafa Tajzadeh
Ali Khodabakhsh
Mostafa Rismanbaf
Kamyar Parsa
Seyed Hossein Ronaghi Maleki
Mohammad Hassan Yousefpour Seifi
Hamid Reza Karvasi
Abdollah Moumeni
Hassan Asadi Zeidabadi
Nader Jaani
Nader Babaee
Siavash Hatam
Mohammad Amin Hadavi
Abdolfattah Soltani
Feizollah Arabsorkhi
Alireza Rajaee
Mohsen Mirdamadi
Emad Bahavar
Jafar Ganji
Mohammad Razaee
Amin Chalaki
Mostafa Badkoubei
Seyed Ahmad Hashemi
Saeid Madani
Nasour Naghipour
Mehdi Khodaee
Ghorban Behzadian Nejad
Seyed Alireza Beheshti Shirazi
Siamak Ghaderi
Amir Khosrou Dalirsani
Mohammad Davari
Behzad Arabgoul
Seyed Mohammad Ebrahimi
Hossein Zarrinee