Iranian Azeri Activists in Limbo Weeks After Arrest

November 22, 2023

2 min read

A wave of arrests targeting 15 Azeri civil activists began in the summer and continued until November 7

His family has since spoken to him in three short phone calls. He said was being held in the Tabriz Intelligence Department and had not been granted access to a lawyer

A wave of arrests targeting 15 Azeri civil activists began in the summer and continued until November 7.

These activists from various cities across northwestern provinces are being held at the Tabriz Intelligence Department in East Azerbaijan province.

The judiciary has yet to disclose the charges they are facing.

Several of these arrests coincided with a surge in government pressure on civil society ahead of the September 16 anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death in police custody.

The detained activists include Ebrahim Avazzadeh, Naser Razmjo, Davood Shiri, Araz Ebrahimnejad, Babak Rahmati, Hamed Yeganehpour, Mehrdad Qaderi, Ali Babaei, Morteza Nurmohammadi, Hossein Azadi, Ayat Mehr Ali Beiglou, Mohammadreza Movahed, Amir Hossein Aghaei, Javad Sodbar and Saber Hosseinzadeh.

All 15 activists remain unaware of the specific reasons behind their arrest.

Araz Ebrahimnejad

Ayat Mehr Ali Beiglou

Ebrahim Avazzadeh

Amir Hossein Aghaei

Babak Rahmati

Javad Sodbar

Hamed Yeganehpour

Hossein Azadi

Davood Shiri

Saber Hosseinzadeh

Ali Babaei

محمدرضا موحد

Mohammadreza Movahed

Mehrdad Qaderi

Naser Razmjo

A relative of Ayat Mehr Ali Beiglou told IranWire that this 45-year-old civil activist was apprehended at a car repair shop on November 7.

Eyewitnesses informed his relatives that agents surrounded him before forcing him into a car at gunpoint.

This married father of two managed to make a brief phone call to his family from the detention center of the Tabriz Intelligence Department.

The relative told IranWire that neither the detainees or their families are aware of the charges against them or the reasons for their detention. They have also been denied access to lawyers.

Mehr Ali Beiglou, a master's degree holder in industrial management from Tarbiat Modares University in Tehran, had been arrested in the past for his activism.

Dawood Shiri, 52, was arrested in front of his house on September 13 in the presence of his wife and two daughters.

His family has since spoken to him in three short phone calls. He said was being held in the Tabriz Intelligence Department and had not been granted access to a lawyer.