Shahnaz Akmali, mother of one of those killed in the 2009 protests, imprisoned again
Shahnaz Akmal, the mother of Mustafa Karim Beigi, one of those killed in the post-election protests of 2009, was sent to Evin Prison on Wednesday, January 15, to serve her one-year prison sentence.
Shahnaz Akmali announced the news on her Twitter account and wrote: "I will take my son's photo with me to prison because I know it is my strength. I am a mother whose crime is seeking justice and repeating it, and a simple question that I have never received an answer to: Who killed my son?"
Ms. Akmal continued to thank the people who were with her and her family, adding: "We are also relatives and have no refuge except each other. Hoping for better days."
Similarly, Maryam Karim Beigi, Ms. Akmal's daughter, posted a photo on Twitter of the moment her mother said goodbye and was sent to Evin Prison.
Ms. Akmal, who for the past 10 years has been seeking justice and finding the perpetrators of her son's murder, has been sentenced to one year in prison, a ban on leaving the country, a ban on political activity, and a ban on membership in cyberspace on charges of "propaganda against the regime."
His son, Mustafa Karim Beigi, was shot in the head and killed during protests against the results of the 2009 presidential election on January 26 of that year, which coincided with Ashura.
According to reports, security officials handed over his body to his family on the condition that the funeral be held outside Tehran, far from his residence, and that no one except his father, mother, and sister be present at the ceremony. Mostafa’s body was buried in Shahriar long after his death.
The execution of Shahnaz Akmali, one of the mothers of those killed in the protests, and her going to prison comes at a time when the Islamic Republic is still witnessing public protests after the downing of a Ukrainian plane and the killing of 176 people due to a missile fired by the Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Following these protests, President Trump and US officials warned the Iranian regime and called for it not to suppress the protesters.
The US State Department has also repeatedly and on various occasions condemned the violent confrontations and widespread repression of protesters, as well as the repeated and persistent violations of the rights of Iranian citizens by the ruling regime in that country.
Source: Voice of America
