Iran: Arrest and beating of demonstrators
- Wednesday, 23 November 2016 15:22
Protesters demanded the release of Mohammad Ali Taheri, being in his second month of hunger strike
On Tuesday, November 22, the regime's oppressive forces brutally attacked a group of people who had gathered in front of the UN office in Tehran to protest against the continued detention of political prisoner Mr. Mohammad Ali Taheri and lack of news about him. The protesters presented the UN office some documents, including about the repressive forces' attack on the gathering outside the regime's parliament a day earlier. In the course of Monday attacks, the club-wielders of the IRGC so-called "Tharallah" headquarters and the special anti-riot guards severely beat the demonstrators with batons and sticks. Due to the attack, many demonstrators, including women and young people, were injured and sent to hospital. The IRGC forces arrested 20 protesters. The repressive forces were hunting well-known demonstrators in the surrounding streets and subway stations. During the last days, similar protests were held in various parts of Tehran and other cities, including Isfahan.
Mr. Taheri was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of "blasphemy, unauthorized use of academic titles, subversive books and works". He was due to be released on 7 February 2016. However, the regime's judiciary refuses to release him by fabricating fake new dossiers against him. He has been on hunger strike since September 28 in protest at his continued detention; however, this morning (November 22), he went unconscious on his fifty-sixth day of hunger strike due to a sharp drop in his blood pressure and blood sugar. The prison guards have conditioned meeting his family upon ending his hunger strike.
The Iranian Resistance calls all human rights advocates and international authorities to take urgent action for the release of Mr. Taheri and those arrested in recent days, and to strongly condemn the regime's repressive measures against political prisoners' families.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
