An Iranian court has sentenced 52 members of the Sufi Muslim sect to jail on various charges including disturbing the public, a newspaper said on Thursday. The Islamic Republic largely tolerates Sufi Muslims whose belief in a mystical path to God through dance and music does not go down well with some of Iran's most senior religious figures. Some 1,000 Sufis were arrested in February during clashes which broke out after authorities ordered the closure of a house of worship used by mystical Sufis in the central seminary city of Qom. Most of them were later released.
"Each of them has been sentenced to a one year jail term, some fines and 74 lashes," Farshid Yadollahi, their lawyer, was quoted by the Kargozaran newspaper as saying. The court in the city of Qom found the Sufis, who were free on bail, guilty of a range of crimes including disobeying police orders and disturbing public order, said the lawyer, who also has been sentenced by the court. "I and another lawyer of this case have also been sentenced to a one year jail term and 74 lashes," Yadollahi said. "We have also been banned from practicing law for five years."