Seven Civil Rights Activists Were Imprisoned

On December 26, 2019, seven civil rights activists, Mahrokh Rousta, Kaveh Mozaffari, Faraz Roshan, Jelveh Javaheri, Forough Saminia, Ahmad Zahedi Langeroudi, and Houman Tahriri were arrested during the commemoration ceremony held 40 days after the killing of Navid Behboudi, one of the victims of last November’s protests. The arrestees had a brief phone conversation with their families. However, their accusations are not yet confirmed. On January 1st, 2020, Forough Saminia, Jelveh Javaheri, Mahrokh Rousta were transferred to Lakan Prison in Rasht upon completion of their interrogation from the Rasht’s Intelligence Department’s detention center. On the same day, Kaveh Mozaffari, Ahmad Zahedi Langeroudi, Houman Tahriri, and Faraz Roshan were transferred to Ziabar Prison in Gilan Province. They were transferred to the aforementioned prisons although the prosecutor’s office announced earlier that all the arrestees can be released on bail.

Forugh Saminia, Jelveh Javaheri, and Kaveh Mozaffari are women’s rights activists while Ahmad Zahedi Langeroudi is a journalist and a member of the Iranian Writer’s Association. They were arrested along with several others, namely Amir Eslami, Sara Zaher Kerdar, Fahimeh Kameli, and Azar Jafari who were also attending this commemoration ceremony but were later released.

Navid Behboudi was a 23-year old model originally from Gilan residing in Qods city. On November 17, 2019, he was fatally shot during last November’s protest in Qods city. On November 20, 2019, his body was received by his family and was buried in Mahvizan, a village in the rural district of Sowme’eh Sara County, Gilan Province. The nation-wide protests of November are one of the most significant events of 2019. During the November protests that lasted more than 10 days simultaneously in 719 parts of the country. At least 7133 people were arrested, and hundreds died on the streets.