Three Azerbaijani Turkic activists have been summoned to a court in Iran over anti-government protests held in summer.
The activists – Abolfazl Karamati, Yousef Salahshour, and Amir Sattari –had allegedly organized a large-scale protest in Tabriz city in July in support of anti-government protests in Iran’s Arab-populated Khuzestan region over poor living conditions.
The activists face charges of “disrupting public order by creating chaos and participating in illegal protest rallies” brought up by the Criminal Court of West Azerbaijan region.
Yousef Salahshour also faces additional charge of “supporting the crisis in Khuzestan province and inciting and inviting people to commit acts of violence through telecommunication systems in social platforms and carrying out propaganda activities against the holy system of the Islamic Republic of Iran in cyberspace”, in Tabriz criminal court.
Amir Sattari and Yousef Salahshour were arrested by security forces on July 25 and transferred to Tabriz Central Prison on August 11 after being interrogated.
Abolfazl Keramati was arrested by the Iranian security forces in Tabriz on July 24 and was released from Tabriz Central Prison on July 28 on bail pending trial.
A large-scale protest rally was held on July 24 in Tabriz in support of who anti-government demonstrations held in southeastern Khuzestan region since June 23, 2021. Following that rallies, security forces have been arresting Azerbaijani activists in Tabriz city for their support for the protests.
The protests in Khuzestan were intially against water shortage in the region but later were expanded to cover larger socio-economic issues such as poverty and environmental and racial problems.
Fourteen protesters were killed and were 79 were detained during the violent protest in Khuzestan.
