Hamidreza Moradi, a jailed Gonabadi dervish currently serving a sentence in Evin Prison, was severely beaten by security forces during interrogations, the Majzooban Noor website reports.
The website for Gonabadi Dervishes reports that Moradi was beaten in front of Mostafa Daneshjoo, another jailed dervish, during an interrogation session.
Moradi reportedly “vomited blood due to severity of the blows.” The report adds that he was then stripped of his clothes and left in the yard in cold weather.
Hamidreza Moradi and six other Gonabadi dervishes serving time in Evin Prison are being held in solitary confinement.
Moradi, who ran the Majzooban Noor Website, was arrested in September of 2011 along with 14 other Gonabadi dervishes.
The Gonabadi dervishes can be traced back to the 16th-century mystic Shah Nematollah Vali, and their current master, Nourali Tabandeh, was involved with the Culture and Guidance Ministry in the early days of the Islamic Republic. However, during the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad administration, the Gonabadi Dervishes have become repeated targets of government persecution.
