Continued Detention and Uncertainty for Relatives of November 2019 Protest Deaths
Hrana News Agency – Despite a week passing since their arrest, several family members of those killed during the November 2019 nationwide protests remain detained and in indefinite detention in security detention facilities. Additionally, Peyman Qoli Pour, brother of Peyman Qoli Pour, one of the casualties of the November 2019 nationwide protests, announced the issuance of a sentence of 100 lashes for his mother, Mahboubeh Ramazani.
According to Hrana News Agency, the news organization of Iran’s human rights activists collective, as of Monday, July 18, 2022, several family members of those killed during the November 2019 protests remain detained and in indefinite detention in security detention facilities despite a week passing since their arrest.
On Monday, July 10, Nahid Shirpisheh and Mehrdad Bakhtiari, mother and uncle of Pooya Bakhtiari; Sakina Ahmadi, mother of Ibrahim Ketabdar; Rahimeh Yousef Zadeh, mother of Navid Bahoodi; Mahboubeh Ramazani, mother of Peyman Qoli Pour; Saeid Damour, brother of Vahid Damour; and Somayeh Jafarpanah, sister of Mohsen Jafarpanah were arrested by security forces. Meanwhile, BBC Persian also reported the arrests of Talat Meshki, mother of Mohsen Jafarpanah; Iran Elahiari, mother of Mehrdad Moeinfer; and Zeinab Mohammadi, mother of Mohammad Taheri. Among these citizens, Sakina Ahmadi was released after some time.
Meanwhile, Peyman Qoli Pour, brother of Peyman Qoli Pour, posted on his personal social media page, announcing the issuance of a sentence of 100 lashes for his mother, Mahboubeh Ramazani, by judicial authorities, and wrote: “My mother has been under pressure for a long time and is constantly threatened, and has received several summonses. But they dealt their final blow a few months ago and sentenced her to one hundred lashes.”
The arrests of Sakina Ahmadi, Rahimeh Yousef Zadeh, and Mahboubeh Ramazani took place at Ms. Yousef Zadeh’s private residence in Tehran, and the arrest of Saeid Damour took place at his private residence in Karaj. It is also reported that Mehrdad Bakhtiari’s arrest occurred following the circulation of a video about the manner of Ms. Shirpisheh’s arrest and the publication of images of a broken lock at his home.
Hours after the arrest of these citizens, Fars News Agency, close to Iran’s security institutions, published a report calling the detainees “rioters” and accusing them of “receiving money to create unrest and insecurity” in Iran.
It should be noted that the November protests refer to a series of nationwide protests that began on Friday, November 15, 2019, with the announcement of an unprecedented increase in gasoline prices in dozens of Iranian cities with an unprecedented presence of protesters in the streets and continued for several days. Mohammad Javad Kolivand, representative of Karaj in parliament, said these protests occurred in 719 locations across the country. Seyyed Hossein Naghavi Hosseini, spokesman of the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission at the time, announced the number of arrests from these protests at approximately 7,000 people. According to reports by human rights organizations, hundreds also died following these violent protests.
