ياشاسين آذربايجان - Long live Azerbaijan

Hassan Zarezadeh Ardeshir
Following reports that protests are planned for the International Mother Language Day, on February 21, 2007, a number of Iranian political and cultural activists, and journalists across the country have been detained and then released on bail. There are reports that groups plan to hold peaceful rallies on the occasion in various […]

Hassan Zarezadeh Ardeshir

Following reports that protests are planned for the International Mother Language Day, on February 21, 2007, a number of Iranian political and cultural activists, and journalists across the country have been detained and then released on bail. There are reports that groups plan to hold peaceful rallies on the occasion in various Iranian towns, including those in Azerbaijan. This has prompted the arrest of a number of activists by security and intelligence agents.

According to human rights activists in Tabriz, these arrests and detention have taken place without formal arrest warrants and the victims have reported mistreatment at the hands of interrogators and official agents.

Alireza Javanbakht, the spokesperson for the Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners of Azerbaijan province, told Rooz, “Since the July demonstrations in the towns of Azerbaijan province, the government has been taking various preventive measures to contain similar protests in the future. This is the reason why many activists have been arrested since then. This policy has been pursued for different events, he added. For example, there have been wide arrests in Azerbaijan on the first day of school in September of last year and now for the International Mother Language Day. According to this human rights activist, “Those arrested are treated as principal figures in such demonstrations, while we see that the demonstrations comprise the public in general and are not orchestrated by any individual.”

[1] www.roozonline…