Kasra Nouri, an Iranian journalist imprisoned for his religious association and for reporting on religious freedom, is now facing new charges.
Pouria Nouri, Kasra's brother, told RFERL’s Radio Farda that the Intelligence Organization of the southern city of Shiraz, claims that her sibling tried to sign a joint statement with other political prisoners, including Narges Mohammadi and Keyvan Samimi, prompting new allegations against him.
Farshid Yadollahi, Nouri's defense lawyer, said in a tweet on September 5 that his client is accused of "gathering and colluding to act against the security of the country."
On August 27, Kasra Nouri was transferred from the political ward of Adelabad prison in Shiraz to solitary confinement in the detention center of the Intelligence Department in the same city and has been under interrogation since.
This 32-year-old prisoner, a member of the Gonabadi Dervish religious community, was banned from visiting his family for a week and finally met his mother on September 5, relatives said.
Last week, Kasra's mother, Shokoofeh Yadollahi, demanded his release in a video published on social networks, warning authorities that "the period of your oppression of the people will finally end one day."
Security officials detained Kasra Nouri among more than 300 others following protests in 2018 that included violent clashes between Dervishes, who are Sufi Muslims, and security forces in the capital, Tehran.
The sentences included prison terms ranging from 4 months to 26 years, flogging, internal exile, travel bans, and a ban on membership in social and political groups.
Sufism, a mystical branch of Islam, is not illegal in Iran but rights groups accuse the Iranian government of harassment and discrimination against its followers. The United States has called the repression of the Dervishes the largest repression of religious minorities in Iran.
In recent weeks, Iranian authorities have ramped up their crackdown against religious minorities, arresting about a dozen of Baha’is and raiding the homes and businesses of many others across Iran.
UN experts have called for the immediate and unconditional release of all individuals detained on the basis of their religious affiliation, and accountability for the systematic persecution of religious minorities by Iranian authorities.