The family of Amin Alizadeh, a member of Iran’s Gonabadi Dervish religious minority who was arrested in Tehran on June 29, has now been kept in the dark about his whereabouts for 40 days.
Amin Alizadeh was arrested amid the “Golestan Haftom” incident in February 2018. The incident, named after the street in Tehran on which it took place, broke out when a gathering of several hundred Gonabadi Dervishes were violently confronted by Iranian police and plainclothes members of the Revolutionary Guard’s Basij faction outside the residence of their spiritual leader, Noor Ali Tabandeh.
The Dervish community had rallied outside Tabandeh’s residence to prevent his possible detainment, as he has reportedly been placed under extended house arrest by Iranian authorities.
Hundreds of Dervishes were beaten, wounded, and arrested during the Golestan Haftom incident. A similar attack occurred on January 24th after an intervention from security forces on the same street, heightening the sense of fear within the Dervish community.
After their arrests in June, Alizadeh and Mousavi were transferred to Ilam Prison in Iran’s Kurdish region, located over 400 miles west of Tehran. According to Ilam Prison authorities, Alizadeh was later transferred to Damavand Prison, closer to Tehran. Damavand judicial authorities, however, have not allowed any visits or contact between Alizadeh and his family.
Though Iranian judicial authorities estimate that around 300 people have been arrested in connection with Golestan Haftom, hrana has thus far published the names of 324 arrestees and estimates that the actual number is considerably higher.
