Important: Click here to read this clarification about some of our previous statements regarding 'Moharabeh'.
A group of Sunni scholars and activists in Zahedan Central prison have been informed of the sentences issued to them, almost one hundred days after their last court appearance.
A prominent Sunni scholar, Molavi (Sheikh) Mohammad Fathi Naghshbandi, was sentenced to 15 years in prison and ordered to be exiled.
Four other Sunni activists, Nezamodin Mollazadeh, Malik Mohammad Abadian, Javad Abadian and Jaber Abadian, were sentenced to death.
Molavi Naghshbandi's son, Abdul Ghaffar Naghshbandi, was sentenced to 13 years in prison, and was ordered to be exiled to an unknown location.
The sentences for two other Sunni men, Fakir Mohammad Reisi and Gul Mohammad Baledeh, remains unknown at this stage.
Molavi Naghshbandi is a prominent Sunni scholar and was the leader of the Friday prayers in the city of Rask, Sarbaz county, in the Sistan-Baluchistan province.
He was one of eleven Sunni activists arrested in May 2012 following the death of a pro-government cleric, Mostafa Jang Zehi who was killed by unknown men in Sistan-Baluchistan.
Molavi Naghshbandi and the Sunni activists, who have denied any involvement with the assassination, were subjected to severe torture in detention. Interrogators also forced them to appear on camera 'confessing' to involvement in the killing.
However, the men denied all charges in court, and said they were forced to make 'confessions' under torture.
The latest sentences are likely to be seen as an attempt by the Iranian regime to silence Sunni activists by falsely accusing them of crimes in order to imprison or execute them.
Numerous Sunni preachers and activists, especially those who criticize the Shia-led regime, have been imprisoned and sentenced to death following unfair trials using evidence obtained through torture.
A group of Sunni scholars and activists in Zahedan Central prison have been informed of the sentences issued to them, almost one hundred days after their last court appearance.
A prominent Sunni scholar, Molavi (Sheikh) Mohammad Fathi Naghshbandi, was sentenced to 15 years in prison and ordered to be exiled.
Four other Sunni activists, Nezamodin Mollazadeh, Malik Mohammad Abadian, Javad Abadian and Jaber Abadian, were sentenced to death.
Molavi Naghshbandi's son, Abdul Ghaffar Naghshbandi, was sentenced to 13 years in prison, and was ordered to be exiled to an unknown location.
The sentences for two other Sunni men, Fakir Mohammad Reisi and Gul Mohammad Baledeh, remains unknown at this stage.
Molavi Naghshbandi is a prominent Sunni scholar and was the leader of the Friday prayers in the city of Rask, Sarbaz county, in the Sistan-Baluchistan province.
He was one of eleven Sunni activists arrested in May 2012 following the death of a pro-government cleric, Mostafa Jang Zehi who was killed by unknown men in Sistan-Baluchistan.
Molavi Naghshbandi and the Sunni activists, who have denied any involvement with the assassination, were subjected to severe torture in detention. Interrogators also forced them to appear on camera 'confessing' to involvement in the killing.
However, the men denied all charges in court, and said they were forced to make 'confessions' under torture.
The latest sentences are likely to be seen as an attempt by the Iranian regime to silence Sunni activists by falsely accusing them of crimes in order to imprison or execute them.
Numerous Sunni preachers and activists, especially those who criticize the Shia-led regime, have been imprisoned and sentenced to death following unfair trials using evidence obtained through torture.