The homes of relatives of Ashraf City residents viciously raided and many arrested in Tehran
NCRI – On Friday February 20, 2009, the mullahs’ Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) conducted simultaneous raids of many homes across Tehran belonging to families of members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) residing in Ashraf City, Iraq. While the families were resting in their homes, the regime’s suppressive forces broke doors and windows, entered the households while terrorizing the families, and brutally beating them. A number of them were arrested and transferred to the notorious Evin prison without even being allowed to change into proper clothing. The regime’s suppressive forces also damaged or confiscated personal belongings such as CDs, books, family photos and satellite receivers.
Some of the families who were attacked include the Yazerlous, the Naderis, the Azimis, and the Tarlanis. Some of those arrested are Ms. Mahsa Naderi, university student, Ms. Fatemeh Ziai, housewife, Ms. Zeynab Safai, and Messrs Hamed Yazerlou and Hassan Tarlani, 22.
Hamed Yazerlou’s brother, Hoad, has also been imprisoned for some time now. He has been sentenced to three years in prison for traveling to Ashraf City and visiting his relatives. The physical condition of Dr. Hani Yazerlou, Hamed’s father, who suffers from severe heart problems, has deteriorated after the vicious raids. The regime’s suppressive forces involved in attacking Dr. Yazerlou’s house were headed by a MOIS henchman with the pseudonym “Alavi.”
Mr. Mohsen Naderi, Mahsa’s father, has also been sentenced to one year in prison for attending a ceremony commemorating the martyrs of the 1988 massacre. He is now incarcerated at Evin prison’s ward 8.
The arrests and violent beatings of Ashraf City relatives, including elderly parents and young kids and teenagers, demonstrates the ruling fascism’s rage over the PMOI’s celebrated perseverance in Ashraf City in defense of the ideal freedom for the Iranian people despite the mullahs’ plots which have been neutralized. Prior to this, on January 16, 2009, dozens of Ashraf City relatives, a majority of whom were mothers ranging from 60 to 80 years old, were arrested at Tehran’s airport while travelling to Baghdad to visit their children.
Last December, the Iranian Resistance published the names of 87 relatives of Ashraf City residents who were arrested and imprisoned after visiting their children, and presented the list of names to international authorities.
The Iranian Resistance once again calls on the UN Secretary General and High Commissioner for Human Rights, as well as other international human rights organizations, to condemn the cruel suppression of PMOI and Ashraf resident families, and implement immediate measures to end these arbitrary arrests and free the detainees.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran – Paris
February 20, 2009
