Security Forces Raid Home of Shahinez Akmaeli, Mother of a Protester Demanding Justice

Shahinez Akmaeli, mother of Mostafa Karimbigi, one of those killed in the 2009 protests, reported that security forces raided her home, conducted a search, and confiscated all electronic devices. Her daughter has also been summoned to the prosecutor’s office on unspecified charges.

Shahinez Akmaeli, a civil activist, said that security forces raided their home on Monday, Esfand 2 (February 21) and seized and took away all electronic devices.

Akmaeli, mother of Mostafa Karimbigi, one of those killed in the 2009 protests and a member of “Mothers Demanding Justice,” stated in a video posted on social media: “The security forces, consisting of four men and one woman, conducted a search and ransacked the entire house, and also took with them photographs of several victims of various protests in Iran.”

According to Ms. Akmaeli, the security forces warned the family that Maryam Karimbigi, another family member, must present herself to the Evin Prosecutor’s Office within five days.

Akmaeli protested in the video against the “harassment and persecution” by various security agencies against her and her family members.

Tehran’s Revolutionary Court convicted Ms. Akmaeli in 2017 to one year in prison and banned her from activity on the internet.

She was also summoned in December 2019 by the enforcement officer of the Evin Prosecutor’s Office and threatened during interrogation that if she did not withdraw the call for holding a ceremony marking the fortieth day of those killed in the November 2019 protests, in addition to a one-year prison sentence that is ready for execution, she would be sentenced to an additional ten years imprisonment on charges of “assembly and conspiracy, propaganda against the regime, and insulting the supreme leader.”

In the same year, Maryam Karimbigi, daughter of Shahinez Akmaeli, was summoned by the Intelligence Department of the Alborz Province of the Revolutionary Guards, and her mobile phone, vehicle documents, and even her vehicle license plate were confiscated.

Shahinez Akmaeli and Maryam Karimbigi, both demanding justice for the blood of their son and brother who was killed on Ashura 2009, have been repeatedly harassed and threatened by the security and judicial institutions of the Islamic Republic due to their civil activities, and security files have been opened against them.

Ms. Akmaeli said that this time as well, the security forces did not mention any charges against her or her daughter.

Source: DW