Rally in support of the people of Khuzestan; Legal case filed against 9 civil activists at Evin Prosecutor's Office

Arash Sadeghi, Arash Kaykhosravi, Rouhollah Mardani, Narges Mohammadi, Jafar Azimzadeh, Rasoul Badaghi, Pouran Nazemi, Hamid Asefi, and Behzad Homayuni faced the opening of a legal case in Branch 2 of the Evin Prosecutor's Office. These civil society activists were arrested on July 10 during a rally in support of the people of Khuzestan in Tehran and released hours later.

HRANA News Agency, the news organ of the Human Rights Activists Association in Iran, announced that a new case has been opened for Arash Sadeghi, Arash Keykhosravi, Rouhollah Mardani, Narges Mohammadi, Jafar Azimzadeh, Rasoul Badaghi, Pouran Nazemi, Hamid Asefi, and Behzad Homayuni in Branch 2 of the Evin Prosecutor's Office.

These nine civil society activists received a text message from the Sana electronic system in recent days informing them of the opening of a new case against them. The text message stated that the reason for the case was their participation in an illegal gathering in front of the Ministry of Interior building.

On July 19 of this year, these civil activists were arrested and released hours later following a rally and march held in support of the people of Khuzestan from in front of the Ministry of Interior to Zaratasht Street.

The arrest of these citizens was accompanied by beatings and violence. Before their arrest, these individuals had stated in a video that a number of them had been beaten by military forces in front of the Ministry of Interior.

Public gatherings began in Khuzestan province on Thursday night, July 14, to protest against water shortages and mismanagement by officials, and spread to at least 41 cities within two weeks. HRANA had previously reported in a report titled “Summary Report on the Second Week of Khuzestan Protests/Protests in 41 Cities” that dozens of citizens were killed and injured and hundreds were arrested.

Source: HRANA