Additional Name(s): احسان ملکمحمدی
Gender: Male
Perpetrator: Iran
Religion or Belief: Muslim – Sufi
Reports of Torture: No
Reports of Medical Neglect: No
Sentence: 5 Years' Imprisonment
Date of Detainment: February//2018
Date of Sentencing: June//2018
Date of Release: March/30/2020
Current Status: Released
Religious Leader: No
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment
Reason for Persecution: Protesting Religious Freedom Conditions Religious Association
Nature of Charges: Illegal Assembly Public Disorder Unlawful Disobedience
Ehsan Malek Mohammadi was imprisoned for his religious association and for protesting religious freedom conditions.
In February 2018, Mohammadi was arrested following a violent crackdown on people protesting the arrest of Nematollah Riahi. Riahi, a member of the Sufi Gonabadi Order, had come to Tehran earlier in February to participate in a sit-in protesting the house arrest of spiritual leader Noor Ali Tabandeh. Mohammadi was reportedly charged with "refusing police orders (Art. 607 IPC), "assembling and colluding to act against national security" (Art. 610 IPC), and "disrupting public order" (Art. 618 IPC). Mohammadi was reportedly denied access to a lawyer.
In June 2018, Mohammadi was reportedly sentenced to seven years in prison, 74 lashes, and two years in exile. Mohammadi was expected to serve five years in prison as the sentences ran concurrently.
In September 2018, it was reported that Mohammadi was participating in a hunger strike demanding an end to Tabandeh's house arrest, the release of female Gonabadi Sufi prisoners, and for all Gonabadi Sufi prisoners in Great Tehran Penitentiary to be kept in the same ward.
On March 30, 2020, Mohammadi was reportedly released from prison following a state directive in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mohammadi was reportedly subjected to inhumane living conditions during his detention.
"Ehsan Malek Mohammadi" United For Iran
"18 Sufis on Strike in Iran’s Great Tehran Penitentiary Issue Three Demands" Center For Human Rights In Iran
"Iran: Over 200 Dervishes Convicted" Human Rights Watch
"Mass Conviction of Sufi Protesters “Unprecedented in Iran’s Judicial History” Center For Human Rights In Iran
"Iran: Crackdown on Dervish Minority" Human Rights Watch
"Clashes Between Police and Sufis Leave Five Dead" Iran Wire
"Six People Said Killed, 300 Arrests At Sufi Protest In Iran" Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)
"Clashes Highlight Tensions Between Dervishes And Iran's Establishment" Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)