Morteza Ghaderi Samani

Mohammad Raji was arrested during the clashes between security forces and Gonabadi dervishes at 7th Golestan Street

<coverage-outsourcing id='21652'> After setting up a checkpoint near the house of the head of Gonabadi dervishes, Nour Ali Tabandeh, a group of Dervishes from across Iran came to Tehran to protect him and gathered in front of his home. This part of Tehran was a scene of clashes between security forces of the Islamic Republic and the Gonabadi Dervishes for several days. Eventually, security officials failed to arrest Nour Ali Tabandeh, but they would sporadically arrest other dervishes </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='21651'> Security officials arrested two Gonabadi dervishes. Nematollah Riahi went to the police station to follow up on their situation, but he himself was arrested there as well </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='21653'> After the arrest of Nematollah Riahi, a group of Gonabadi dervishes gathered in protest of his arrest in front of the police station 102 at Pasdaran street in Tehran and demanded his release. After a clash between the security forces and the Gonabadi dervishes, the area of unrest increased, and once again the Golestan 7th street turned into a battleground between Gonabadi dervishes and security guards. On this day and in the following days, a large number of dervishes were arrested. It is estimated that the number of arrestees is between 300 and 500 people. A number of Basiji and police officers were also killed in the clashes </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='21648'> Hundreds of dervishes were arrested around this date </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='21649'> Majzouban-e-Noor website reported that Mohammad Raji was killed in prison. Tehran Prosecutor, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, and Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i, the spokesman for the judiciary, denied his killing during the interrogations and stated that he had lost his life during the clashes. The Judiciary news agency "Mizan" wrote that he had been injured and transferred to Baghiatollah hospital, but died there. According to witnesses, Mr. Raji was still alive after his arrest and was released at the detention center. It is unclear whether he was killed under torture or due to lack of effective health care. A few weeks later, another dervish prisoner, Mohammad Salas, was sentenced to death on charges of "killing three policemen and soldiers" in a quick trial </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='21650'> Amnesty International has issued a statement announcing that eight of the arrested Gonabadi Dervishes went on hunger strike in protest of "torture and other cruel and inhuman treatments" at Tehran Shapour Criminal Investigation police detention center. The prison is known for torture of detainees for confessions. The names of these prisoners are Javad Khamisabadi, Kianoush Abbaszadeh, Ahmad Mousavi, Nourali Mousavi, Mehdi Eskandari, Amir Labaf, Mir sadegh and Abbas Dehghan. It is reported that Abbas Dehghan has been threatened that his wife would be raped in front of him if he does not confess. Amnesty International says the prisoner dervishes are deprived of having attorney and the families of some of them are unaware of their whereabouts. The organization also issued a statement announcing that 11 dervish women are detained at the Rey Gharchak prison in undesirable and inhumane conditions and expressed concern about their situation and called for their immediate release </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='21647'> An informed source told Atlas that at least 300 of the dervishes are still in detention. He emphasized that almost none of them have access to lawyers, and security officers are attributing the charge of "using violence" to those who only participated in the protests, filing group cases against them </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='27657'> An informed source told IPA that he is still incarcerated in Fashafouyeh prison </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='29776'> After the Coronavirus outbreak, Ali Khamenei ordered a large number of prisoner's freedom by issuing a directive. This directive (with several clauses ) has been mentioned to the political prisoners too. The political prisoners who have been sentenced under five years in prison will be released from prison by security agencies' approval. He was released from prison based on this directive </coverage-outsourcing>