On Wednesday evening, security officers attacked a religious gathering at the house of an Azari activist in Tehran and launched a new campaign of arresting Azari activists by arresting eighteen of the activist’s guest.
One Azari activist who witnessed the intelligence and security officers’ attack on the gathering, has identified the names of those arrested as such: Engineer Ali Reza Sarrafi, editor-in-chief of the banned monthly Dilmaj, Saeed Mooghanli, journalist, Hossein Heidari, editor-in-chief of student bulleting Oulus, Roghaye Alizadeh, wife of national activist Abbas Lesani and their three children, Abbas Naeimi, former head of Azarbaijan Children’s House, Mehdi Naemi, poet and Azari language university instructor, Akbar Azad, contributor to Varleegh journal, Hassan Rashedi, contributor to Varleegh journal, Engineer Mohammad Akram Najjari, Abbaspour, Shahnaz Ebrahim Nejad, Yousef Hoshyar, Farhad Rezaei, Robab Azimi and Sayyad Mohammadian.
This Azari activist adds, “That night, after a few hours security officers released Roghaye Alizadeh, wife of Abbas Lesani and their three children, but so far no information has been obtained about the release of other detainees or even where they are held.”
No judiciary or security officials have yet announced the reasons behind or charges against the detainees. Some of the most prominent cultural figures in Azarbaijan are among the detainees, and many of them were previously arrested and interrogated by security and judiciary officials.
According to other reports, one day after the arrest of the eighteen activists, security and intelligence officials arrest Engineer Hassan Rahimi, Azari human rights activist, and transported him to an unknown location. This human rights activist was instrumental in disseminating information in defense of several Azari students who have been kept in detention for more than two months by security officers.
The number of Azari activists arrested in Tehran, Tabriz, Urumiyeh, Ardebil and Zanjan now exceeds forty and several of the detainees, including eight university student activists, are held in unknown conditions by the Ministry of Intelligence. According to Azari activists, these students have not yet been able to communicate with their families or attorneys.