Hamshahri Newspaper: 300 people were arrested during the protests in Susangerd alone

In its report, the Hamshahri newspaper confirmed the arrest of at least 300 people in Susangerd alone during the protests in Khuzestan. The newspaper also said in its report that the peaceful protests of the people turned violent with the arrival of military forces and special forces, while reporting that at least 12,000 people attended the protest rally in Susangerd. The governor of Khuzestan called the first videos of the Susangerd protests “fake” and claimed that no protests had taken place in the city. Although the exact number of the hundreds of people arrested in these protests is still unknown, HRANA yesterday confirmed the identities of 361 of these citizens in a report presenting the second list of those arrested in the Khuzestan protests.

According to HRANA news agency, citing Hamshahri newspaper, at least 300 protesters have been arrested during recent protests in the city of Susangerd.

According to this report; the day after the first day of the protests on July 14, Qasem Soleimani Dashtaki, the governor of Khuzestan, denied everything and said: “Some people are looking to incite people and are publishing fake images of people’s protests on social media.” He claimed: “No incidents or protests took place in the cities of Khorramshahr and Susangerd, but clips from the past are being published on social media.” Subsequent events showed that the governor’s words were wrong.

As stated in the Hamshahri report based on the statistics of 2018, during that year, about 300 union and non-union gatherings and sit-ins were held in Khuzestan province, ranking first in the country in this regard. These days, workers of the Haft Tappeh sugar factory are protesting in the streets of Shush for non-payment of salaries and the failure to clarify the task of dispossessing the factory owners. All of this is strange for the people, considering the capabilities and opportunities of the province. But in the water issue, for more than 20 years, people have been injured and protesting in various ways, but nothing has been heard.

The protests in Susangerd and the surrounding cities were peaceful until the fourth day. People marched in the city and chanted slogans for water. Laleh Square, one of the city's main squares, was the destination of the protesters every day. Finally, on the fourth day, the atmosphere changed when a special police unit, who were non-natives and unfamiliar with the area, entered the Susangerd area. Until that day, no provincial or national official was willing to talk to the people. The police had come to the square with the aim of ending the sit-in and confronted the people with the question: considering the peaceful nature of the protests, why had the special unit entered the city with force?

According to this report, about 300 people were arrested in Susangerd alone during these protests.

Although reports from different cities across the country indicate that hundreds of citizens have been arrested during these protests, despite restrictions on the free flow of information and the Iranian authorities' failure to allow independent civil society organizations to operate within the country, relying on available reliable information and years of experience, HRANA has so far verified the identities of 361 citizens, including 171 on the first list and 190 on the second list.

Source: HRANA