Judicial official: Indictments have been issued for 26 people in connection with Zahedan's Bloody Friday
Ahmadreza Pourkhaghan, head of the Armed Forces Judicial Organization, announced the issuance of indictments for 26 people in connection with the events known as "Bloody Friday" in Zahedan.
In those incidents that occurred after Friday prayers on October 28 last year, at least one hundred Baloch citizens were killed as a result of direct gunfire from security agents.
Previously, the "Hal-Vash" news site, which covers news related to Sistan and Baluchestan, had confirmed the identities of at least 121 people in its report on the number of people killed in the protests in Zahedan and Khash on "Bloody Friday."
On Thursday, May 11, during a trip to Zahedan, Mr. Pourkhaghan said about the indictments issued: 11 people have been charged with shooting resulting in murder and injury, and 15 others, including abuse of position and shooting in violation of regulations.
Following the events of Bloody Friday, worshippers in the city of Zahedan take to the streets every week after Friday prayers and chant slogans against the government.
Also, Mawlavi Abdul Hamid, the Sunni Friday prayer imam of Zahedan, has repeatedly called for the perpetrators of this massacre to be tried in his speeches.
On "Bloody Friday" in Zahedan, protesters were holding a protest rally in response to a police commander's "rape" of a Baloch girl when they were directly targeted by police fire, killing dozens of them.
Mawlawi Abdul Hamid emphasized that the Islamic Republic's security forces used "war bullets" to suppress the protesters.
Amnesty International also emphasized in a statement that the Islamic Republic's government forces, using a "lethal pattern" in suppressing the protests in Sistan and Baluchestan, used "lethal ammunition and live ammunition" against the people of this province and targeted "the torso, chest, and head of protesters with the intent to kill."
In mid-December last year, an audio file was released from a meeting of the "Coalition Council of the Islamic Revolutionary Forces" headed by Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, in which the secretary of the council admitted to the "very grave mistake" of the Islamic Republic's security forces in the massacre of the people of Zahedan during the city's "Bloody Friday."
Reza Davari, secretary of the Islamic Revolutionary Forces Coalition Council, said in the meeting: "The person who was on top of the police station and opened fire made a very grave mistake and targeted an area where a number of people, including women, men, and teenagers, were killed."
Indictments have been issued for 26 people in connection with this massacre, while Mawlawi Abdul Hamid has rejected attributing the massacre to the personal error of the officers.
He said on December 20 last year that the shooting and killing of protesters on Zahedan's Bloody Friday was a "pre-determined plan."
Source: Radio Farda
