Intense security atmosphere in several cities and arrest of participants on 40th day of Pouya Bakhtiari’s death
29-December-2019
Category: Freedom of Expression
Breathing in Confinement – On Thursday, December 26, security forces arrested a number of participants gathering on the occasion of the 40th day of Pouya Bakhtiari’s death in Behesht-e- Sakineh cemetery in the City of Karaj.
Videos released on the internet show security forces arresting attendees in the ceremony.
Radio Farda quoting Huriya Tarani- a political activist living in Canada, reported that her sister was arrested in Behesht-e- Sakineh where she had gone to honor her brother’s memory.
Ms. Tarani’s brother was killed in protests against the results of 2009 presidential election.
Dariush Mehrjui, Rakhshan Bani Etemad, Jafar Panahi, Mohsen Amir Yousefi and Reza Darmishian on the other hand, were reportedly among the filmmakers who attended the 40th day of Pouya Bakhtiari’s death ceremony in Behesht-e- Sakineh cemetery despite the intense security atmosphere.
There have also been a high-security situation in various regions of Iran on Thursday, December 5. Family members of some of the people who were killed in the November demonstrations had previously announced that they were going to hold a ceremony on December 26, on the occasion of the 40th day of their loved ones’ death.
Police officers and security forces with armored vehicles and water cannons were reportedly deployed at section 26 of Behesht-e- Sakineh Cemetery in Karaj, where Pouya Bakhtiari has been buried. In addition, three buses full of plain-clothes agents and Basij paramilitary forces were located at a checkpoint at Behesht-e- Sakineh Cemetery entrance.
The videos show that police officers in Behesht-e- Sakineh Cemetery used force to disperse people who were gathering in the cemetery.
On Thursday in addition, special units of motorcyclists, as well as mask-wearing agents, were patrolling in Tehran; on Sadeghieh (Ariashahr) Second Square, Imam highway and Damavand Bridge.
The ” intense security atmosphere has also been reported in Imam’s highway, Kaj Square and on Damavand Bridge with the presence of many police forces ” are among the other news which has been received from Tehran.
There are also reports that many security agents in short distance from each other were standby on Ghezel Hesar Boulevard in Karaj.