The Supreme Court has upheld the sentence issued to seven dervishes by the Shiraz Revolutionary Court, according to media outlets linked to Gonabadi Dervishes.
The seven dervishes have been found guilty of “enmity with God” and “corruption on earth”; three of them are sentenced to lifetime exile and the other four are to spend 28 years in exile.
The Majzooban-e Noor website reported that the sentences for the seven dervishes, all residents of Kavar, have now been confirmed by the Supreme Court.
Three years ago, a group of seminarians staged demonstrations against the dervishes in Kavar. The demonstrations led to conflict with the dervishes, and one of them was shot and killed while scores of others were arrested.
The complaint filed by the family of Vahid Banani, the dervish who was slain that day, has not been acknowledged, according to the family.
Enmity with God and corruption on earth are usually charges that the Islamic Republic judiciary brings against armed dissidents; however, in recent years they have also been used against political dissidents and some minority groups.
The court’s labeling of Gonabadi dervishes as an illegal group is without precedent in the country’s jurisprudence.
The verdict comes even though President Rohani’s advisor on religious and ethnic minority group affairs has recently expressed dismay at the mistreatment of dervishes.
