Iran Focus: Tehran, May 10 – The execution of five Kurdish activists over the weekend has touched off protests in Tehran and in Iran’s Kurdistan Province, terrifying local officials of the backlash that has been created, Iran Focus has learnt.
Iran Focus
Tehran, May 10 – The execution of five Kurdish activists over the weekend has touched off protests in Tehran and in Iran’s Kurdistan Province, terrifying local officials of the backlash that has been created, Iran Focus has learnt.
Shirin Alam-Houli, Ali Heydarian, Mahdi Islamian, Farzad Kamangar, and Farhad Vakili were hanged on Sunday in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, convicted of ‘Moharebeh’, or ‘waging war on God’, for membership in opposition Kurdish groups, including PJAK, and acting against State security.
Some 600 people on Monday protested against their execution in central Tehran amid tight security. There were chants of “Death to Khamenei”, referring to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
In the Kurdish town of Kamyaran, where Mr. Kamangar was a teacher for 12 years, hundreds took to the streets on Sunday to condemn the execution despite a heavy police presence.
Similar anti-government protests erupted on Sunday in the provincial capital Sanandaj.
Mr. Kamangar’s sister has requested that authorities in Tehran hand over her brother’s body for burial, but the local Intelligence Ministry office in Kurdistan is opposed to the idea, fearing further protests during the burial ceremony.
Iran Focus has learnt that officials from the Intelligence Ministry and Judiciary in the province convened an emergency meeting to discuss steps to tackle unrest in Kurdish areas following the execution.
It was said in the meeting that the timing for the execution had been terribly poor as Supreme Leader Khamenei was preparing to travel to the neighbouring Kermanshah province with a large Kurdish population.
In related news, our correspondent in Tehran reports that following protests earlier in the day by students against the execution, security forces raided the dormitory of the University of Tehran arresting at least 4 female students and 3 male students. They were seen being taken away in police vehicles. Security forces have established a large presence in the vicinity of the university.
