On Sunday 6th of Mehr 1393 ( September 28, 2014), hundreds of Gonabadi Dervishes gathered, for the third time, in front of the Ministry of Justice in pursuit of “Migration from Iran to Evin” campaign. A short while after the crowd gathered, Mr. Kazem Moosavi, representative of the minister, came into the crowd and requested that the Dervishes stop their street protest and continue gathering inside the ministry. However, the Dervishes remained on Vali Asr Street arguing that their physical presence is the only way to communicate to general public their intentions due to the Iranian media boycott on the subject.

Then, Mr. Mousavi asked a number of the imprisoned Dervishes’ families, as representative of all the Dervishes, to enter the premises for negotiation.

Mr. Mousavi conveyed Mr. Pour Mohammadi’s (Minister of Justice) regards and apologies to the families and asked them again to stop the rallies as this would cost both the government and Dervishes and merely feed foreign media.

In this regard, a family member of one of the imprisoned Dervishes told Mr. Mousavi that the local media are controlled and what is reflected in other media is an outcome of this imposed silence. He was given a verbal report on oppression of Gonabadi Dervishes over the last ten years, including the manner in which some of them had been arrested, went on trial, and have been treated during their imprisonment. This family member told him: nine prisoners who are lawyers and Dervish-rights activists are on hunger strike, and it is very likely that something irreversible will happen to them, in which case Gonabadi Dervishes will not remain silent and you should expect every type of reaction from them, since you are responsible for their lives.

Another one focused on citizenship rights and reminded Mr. Mousavi that since Cyrus Iran has taken pride in preservation of human rights which must not be violated. S/he added that atheists’ civil rights must be protected, let alone those of Dervishes who are twelve-Imam Shiites and asked the minister’s representative to put an end to the current situation and bring calm and peace back to the Dervish community.

Mr. Mousavi, who had introduced himself as representing Minister of Justice, said: Protecting Gonabadi Dervishes’ rights is our priority as they are Muslims.

Then, one of the families mentioned what the Minister of Intelligence had said in a seminar attended by authorities of Department of Education: he had called us atheists but you tell us we are Muslims, Shiites, and are entitled to civil rights.

In response, Mr. Mousavi expressed his surprise and told them: you should ask him himself why he said that. I didn’t say such a thing. We know that you Dervishes are calm and peaceful.