An Iranian court sentenced to death on Monday a protester for ramming a bus into a group of policemen last month, killing three, before being arrested.
The incident in Tehran took place during February clashes between members of the Sufi Gonabadi Dervishes and the police.
The detainee, Mohammad Salas, was charged with the murder of the three policemen and disrupting public order.
Salas testified during hearings last week that he had no intention of killing the policemen but was trying to flee the clashes. The official IRNA news agency said he can appeal his verdict with 20 days.
Sufi leader Nourali Tabandeh's supporters had rallied near his residence fearing his possible arrest, despite police assurances they had no such intention.
According to the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI), a non-profit group based in New York, several Dervishes have been arrested in the last two months.
It said 10 members of the order were injured and three others arrested in the city of Kowar, in Fars province, on January 14 after police attacked a rally demanding the release of other Sufi detainees.
