Azerbaijani Activists Arrested During 21 Azer Celebrations
December 11, 2009
Azerbaijani civil activists Hedayat Zaker, Saeed Chalabiyani, Jamal Tasoudian,
Reza Gardani and Bahram Bohimi were arrested in Tabriz.
Aydin Shafie and Yaghoub Taghavi were summoned to Tabriz’s Ministry
ofIntelligence and Security (MOIS) office.
According to ADAPP sources, MOIS officers detained Hedayat Zaker, a known civil
rights activist and high school teacher, on Dec/11/2009,
He was released after several hours of interrogation at the MOIS station on
Saeb Street. They were interrogated for their involvement in a cultural ceremony
on December 10.
On December 10, 2009, MOIS agents entered Jamal Tasoudian’s home on Vali-Asr
street in the city of Tabriz during an Azerbaijani ceremony commemorating 21
Azer, a sacred date in South Azerbaijani history. MOIS agents entered in the
midst of a performance by the Varliq children’s group and dispersed tear gas,
creating panic among the guests.
The Security Forces subsequently took the mobile phones and the identification
cards of all of the guests at the gathering. They went
on to arrest Jamal Tasoudian and the landlord, as well as ceremony attendees
Bahram Bohimi, Saeed Chalabiyani and Reza Gardani, who was
one of the founders of the Varliq Children’s Azerbaijani Cultural Center.
MOIS officials also telephoned Shabester Azad University Students Aydin Shafie
and Yaghoub Taghavi on Friday and requested that they
report to a nearby police station on Saturday, December 12. Aydin Shafie and
Yaghoub Taghavi were also present at Jamal Tasoudiyan’s
house during Thursday’s celebration.
21 Azer (December 11) is the anniversary of the formation of the autonomous
government of Azerbaijan, in what is now South or Iranian
Azerbaijan, in 1945. On that day, the Azerbaijani language became the official
language of the short-lived republic. Azerbaijanis
commemorate this day every year by gifting books written in Azerbaijani-Turkic.
They also distribute flyers throughout many Azerbaijani cities, informing the
public about cultural ceremonies and fireworks, and celebrating the legacy of
this historic day.
Celebrations commemorating 21 Azer have been banned by the government of Iran
since 1946 and . In recent years, the Iranian government has become more callous
to those who celebrate this day. In 2002, security forces arrested 80
Azerbaijani civil activists, who gathered at the
grave of Professor Zehtabi on the 21st of Azer. In 2003, the Intelligence agents
attacked a memorial ceremony of Fereydoun
Ebrahimi, the Democratic Minister of Justice of the former Azerbaijan Republic,
at his grave and arrested Zaker Hedayat, a renowned Azeri
civil rights activist, along with several others.
Association for the Defense of Azerbaijani Political Prisoners
in Iran
(ADAPP)
Chief Executive of Ardabil Correctional Office Allows Prisoner Abuse
December 12, 2009
Vadood Sadati, Rahim Gholami and Behrooz Alizadeh, political prisoners of Azerbaijan that were arrested on October 28, 2009 for one year imprisonment, are now facing inhuman conditions by prison guards by the order of the chief executive officer, Enzabee, of the Ardabil Correctional Office.
Our reporter from Ardabil reports, Enzabee, the chief executive of Ardabil Correctional Office ordered the prison's manager to transfer dangerous and very sick prisoners to precinct 7, where political prisoners are kept in solitary confinement. Moharam Zadeh, prison guard of precinct 7, verbally abused Azerbaijani political prisoners and human rights activists every day.
Moreover, on Thursday, December 10, 2009, Sadati complained and mentioned that the guard was putting pressure on and degrading political prisoners. Due to this argument, there was an order to transfer Sadati to solitary confinement and after keeping him hungry for 2 days, the chief executive of the correctional office changed his mind.
Precinct 7 does not have telephones and prison guards have threatened prisoners that the public receivers will be taken away if another argument ensues.
Behrooz Alizadeh, Rahim Gholani and Ali Abassi are Azerbaijani political prisoners and Mohamad Ali Narooie, Mohamad Rahim Narooie and Omar Chaparaz are political prisoners that are serving time in the Ardabil precinct 7 prison.
The prisoners' relatives have stated that Enzabee, the chief executive officer of Ardabil Correctional Office, is an employee of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS). And by the order of the MOIS, precinct 7 is pressuring and torturing their prisoners.
Association for the
Defense of Azerbaijani Political Prisoners in Iran - ADAPP