Security Pressures on Mehrdad Moinfar’s Family; Bullets in Response to Protest

A relative of Mehrdad Moinfar, who died on Sunday, November 16 as a result of a gunshot wound, told the Iran Human Rights Campaign in an interview that his family, despite pressures from security institutions, has refused to allow their son to be declared a “martyr.”

According to him, Mehrdad Moinfar was shot in the abdomen on Valiaser Street in Shahr-i Rey, but no death certificate has been delivered to his family.

There is no precise count of the number of people killed during the November protests in Iran. Islamic Republic officials refrain from providing official figures on deaths and arrests. Amnesty International has documented 304 cases, and Reuters news agency, citing sources within Iran’s Ministry of Interior, reported that around 1,500 people were killed during the November protests, as well as orders from Iran’s leader to end the protests “by any means possible.”

The Iran Human Rights Campaign stated in a declaration that the use of violence by Iranian authorities against protesters in Iran, including the use of firearms and weapons, has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people, and these government actions constitute a clear and unjustifiable violation of international laws that must be stopped immediately.

Mehrdad Moinfar, according to his relatives, was a protester. One of his relatives told the Campaign: “Mehrdad was 32 years old, had a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, and worked as a pharmacist. He was an athlete and a bodybuilding coach and was scheduled to participate in bodybuilding competitions in Turkey in December. Mehrdad was a protester and suffered from the economic hardship of the people and the situation created by the government. He said he was distressed by seeing a woman who had to place her ration card in a bakery just to get a few loaves of bread, or seeing a man at a butcher’s shop who had no money to buy meat and was looking for scraps. After witnessing these things, he went out into the street, and in response to his protest, they shot him in the abdomen. Instead of asking what is your protest about? What is your pain? They shot Mehrdad in the stomach and then went after his family to declare him a martyr, but the family refused.”

One of Mehrdad Moinfar’s relatives spoke to the Campaign about the pressures being exerted on his family by security institutions: “After a video was released showing Mehrdad’s mother and sister talking about his death, his family came under severe pressure. Officials from the Ministry of Interior and the governorate came to their home asking them to declare Mehrdad a martyr and said that state television would also come for an interview and you should say that he was martyred. However, Mehrdad’s family refused and said that their son was a martyr of the path to freedom, that he went out for his people, and they do not allow his killers to call him a martyr. They came several times and threatened that if you give interviews and say anything, we will arrest Mehrdad’s sister. Mehrdad had only one sister who has not been in good condition after her brother’s death, and the family has remained silent to protect her.”

When the body was handed over, according to Mehrdad Moinfar’s relatives, his family was also made to give a commitment. One of his relatives told the Campaign: “Mehrdad had a national ID card with him, by which he was identified. One of his relatives works in the intelligence office and he informed the family that Mehrdad was in Sajad Hospital in Shahr-i Rey. At the hospital, however, they said he had been transferred to the Kahrizak Legal Medicine Organization. They did not take any money from his family, but they made them commit that the body would not be taken in front of the house and would not be carried in procession and that everything would be done in silence, and they did not even allow the printing of posters. The family, in silence, buried him in Fardosieh, Shahr-i Rey, where they live.”

Source: Iran Human Rights Campaign