Plainclothes forces attack gathering of families of victims of Flight PS 752 in front of Ukrainian embassy
On the fifth day of Russia's military invasion of Ukraine and the continuing global reactions and anti-war protests around the world to this all-out invasion, a group of families of the victims of Flight PS752 say that they were "faced with an attack by plainclothes forces" after gathering in front of the Ukrainian embassy.
Khosrow Malek, the father of Maryam Malek, one of the victims of the flight, was present at the rally on Monday, March 29. He says he was beaten by plainclothes forces.
Mr. Malek told VOA: "We, the families of the victims of Flight PS 752, gathered in front of the Ukrainian embassy in Tehran to express solidarity and sympathy with the Ukrainian people, holding pictures of those killed on that flight, but we were beaten by five plainclothes officers, and the police did not intervene."
Mr. Malek told VOA that the officers first attacked one of the mothers present at the rally and, after Mr. Malek sought their support, they also beat her.
Describing the officers' physical assault, including pepper spray and beatings, he said that they eventually dragged him and his wife to the ground, along with one of the mothers and three of the fathers of the victims of Flight PS752, to Police Station 101, near the embassy, and held them in custody for nearly two hours.
Mr. Malek said: "Our crime was that we were from the families of the victims of Flight PS752 and, as human beings, we sympathized with the oppressed people and called for an end to the war and the killing of civilians."
After the news of the beating of the families of the victims of Flight PS 752 in front of the Ukrainian Embassy in Tehran was published, Hamed Esmailiyon posted a text on his Twitter, calling the attackers of the gathering in front of the Ukrainian Embassy in Tehran "thugs of the Islamic Republic" who "attacked and harmed the families of the Ukrainian flight in the most brutal way possible, with pepper spray and beatings."
On Sunday, March 29, the Association of Families of the Victims of the Ukrainian Plane Crash, whose 176 passengers were shot down by two missiles fired by the Revolutionary Guard near the airport on the outskirts of Tehran on January 8, 2019, issued a statement supporting the Ukrainian people, calling Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian Leader Ali Khamenei, and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "criminals," writing: "These criminals will one day be tried for crimes against humanity."
Russia has been deploying tens of thousands of troops on the Ukrainian border for months. Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a decree on Thursday morning, March 25, to begin military operations in Ukraine.
In a televised speech in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, US President Joe Biden said that Putin is the aggressor, that he chose this war and will bear its costs.
On Friday, March 26, the United States imposed sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Source: Voice of America
