Last February, the suppressive State Security Forces arrested nearly 2000 people in the course of the demolition of the Nematollahi dervishes’ Mosque in Qom.
In an unprecedented move, the clerical regime also sentenced the dervishes’ lawyers to “five years in prison” for “defending” the dervishes and fined them as well.
The brutal suppression of Dervishes who have always had a friendly and peaceful relationship with other strata of the Iranian society is a sign of the regime’s increasing isolation among the people and its growing fear of their discontent.
The Iranian Resistance urges all human rights organizations and the defenders of Freedom of Religion and Beliefs to condemn the crackdown on the Nematollahi Dervishes and take action in freeing those in custody.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
January 20, 2007