Oct 1, 2014

Iran's Gonabadi dervishes held a protest on Sept. 28 against what they claim is the poor treatment of dervish political prisoners and a “news boycott” by domestic media.

According to Mazjooban Noor, a website dedicated to publishing news about the Gonabadi dervishes, at least 1,000 people joined the protest outside of the Ministry of Justice building in Tehran. The protesters stood side by side and locked hands in what was described as a peaceful gathering.

Seyed Kazem Mousavi, who introduced himself as a “representative of the justice minister,” Moustafa Pour-Mohammadi, met the protesters and asked them to continue their protest inside the ministry building and to clear the street. However, according to Mazjooban Noor, many of the protesters refused, saying that their only voice is that of the people in the street and that Iran's domestic media is conducting a “news boycott” of their protests.

After a brief negotiation outside, Mousavi convinced some family members of the prisoners to enter the ministry building. The families conveyed their outrage over the sentencing of the Gonabadi dervishes, their treatment while in prison — particularly of those on hunger strike — and the general lack of media attention to their cases.

According to Mazjooban Noor, a conversation ensued between the family members and Mousavi about citizen rights, an issue that was promoted by President Hassan Rouhani early on in his administration but has rarely come up since. The families said that some government officials do not even consider Gonabadi dervishes to be Muslim, while Mousavi rejected that idea.