Some Family Members of Poya Bakhtiari, a Victim of Recent Protests, Released

The mother, sister, and one of the uncles of Poya Bakhtiari, a victim of the November protests, have been released after at least 14 days in detention.

According to reports published on social media, on Tuesday, December 17, Nahid Shirpisha, the mother of Poya Bakhtiari, was released along with his sister and uncle—all victims of the November protests who were arrested on December 3 along with other relatives of Poya Bakhtiari on the eve of the 40th-day commemoration of the November 1998 protest deaths by security forces.

This information is being released by human rights media outlets at a time when there is no news of the release of other detained family members of Poya Bakhtiari, including his father Manouchehr Bakhtiari.

Previously, Voice of America had reported that the Islamic Republic did not permit the families of November protest victims to hold 40th-day ceremonies, and some of them, including members of Poya Bakhtiari’s family who had issued a nationwide call for public attendance at his 40th-day ceremony, were arrested—among the detainees was an 11-year-old child.

The Islamic Republic arrested this young man’s family days before his 40th-day ceremony was to be held, and it was after this that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo strongly condemned the detention of Poya Bakhtiari’s parents and called for their immediate release.

Memorial services for those killed in Iran were held at a time when the Islamic Republic continues to refuse to publish accurate figures on the number of those killed and detained in these protests.

This comes as Reuters reported that the death toll from Iran’s protests was 1,500 people, and citing three sources close to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, wrote that Khamenei had ordered government and security officials to do “whatever is necessary” to stop the protests.

Human rights activists called on permanent members of the UN Security Council to pass a resolution condemning the suppression of people in Iran as a “crime against humanity.”