Wednesday, August 26, 2015 9:39:30 PM
Iranian authorities have continued to pressure on Erfan-E-Halgheh members, despite international concern against Mr. Taheri's death penalty.
Iran's security forces had arrested a group of Erfan-E-Halgheh's devotees who had attempted gathering a sit-in protest to oppose Mr. Taheri's death sentence.
They were detained on the way to the outstanding Shiite cleric house Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi, once leaving the shrine on 23 Aug 2015. Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi is one of the three clerics who has ruled out the death penalty.
The devotees had allegedly carried out a peaceful sit-in protest in the Shrine of Fatema Masumeh (sister of Imm 'Ali - ibn- musa - Reza ) in the city of Qom on 16 Aug 2015.
A total of 13 individuals who were in the sit-in including Mahnaz Farhad, Naeimeh Taghavi, Azimeh Sepehri, Arezoo Moghadam Sepehr, Soraya Ahdi, Naeimeh Ahdi, Arezoo Ahdi, Haydeh Derakhshani, Mahmoud Amin, Akhondi, Baharin Asgariyeh, Freshteh Tadi and Maryam Amiri have been allegedly identified.
Mahnaz Farhad, Baharin Asgariyeh, Freshteh Tadi and Mahmoud Amin are still in an unknown detention, although officials have reportedly released the numbers of the detainees.
The four prisoners are kept in an unknown situation since the arrest, awaiting possible trial, as one of their relatives said.
Mahnaz Farhad is suffering from digestive disorders and stomach bleeding; a reliable source has acknowledged.
The Islamic Revolutionary Court held its charges as capital punishment against Mohammad-Ali Taheri the founder of a spiritual group known as Erfan-E-Halgheh at Branch 28 of the Court. He has been in the Evin prison since May 2011 and accused of "Ifsad fi al-Arz" (spreading corruption on Earth) under Islamic Penal Code. Mr. Taheri also convicted to six years imprisonment. He was previously sentenced to 37 years in prison, fine on the charge of blasphemy, disturbing the medical treatment and also convicted to 74 lashes for touching his patients without a medical license in the Revolutionary Court on 2014-2015, according to the news.
By: Kaveh Taheri
