Following the severe human rights violations in Iran, four media activists and bloggers critical of the Islamic Republic have been arrested in Tehran and Shiraz in recent days.
According to credible sources, following the recent widespread protests against the Islamic Republic authorities and institutions, which began in the third week of November 2019 and spread throughout Iran, a wave of arrests of student and media activists, bloggers, and critics began. On Wednesday, November 19, Hamed Zahraei and Amir Hamzeh Safizadeh were arrested in Shiraz. On Thursday, November 20, Behnam Karimi and Yashar Darolshafa were detained in Tehran by the Ministry of Intelligence agents.
According to the report, the reasons for the arrest, the charges against them, and the four media activists’ situation are not known. Still, some sources have stated that Zahraei and Safizadeh were transferred to No. 100 Shiraz Detention Center and Darolshafa and Karimi to Evin Detention Center in Tehran. have become.
The homes of these individuals and their families have also been inspected, confiscated, and some property confiscated, as well as insults. In recent days, many political and civil activists, journalists, students, women activists, and many bloggers critical of the government have been summoned, abducted, and arrested, many of whom have not been released.
Internet blackout and country repression:
Reuters quoted a source close to the Iranian government sources said that it was a direct order from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to crackdown on the November 2019 protests. The sources said that after the protests began, Khamenei gathered high-ranking military and government officials and told them that “the Islamic Republic is in danger and they will do whatever it takes to stop it (the protests).”
According to the same report, since the beginning of the 2019 protests, the Iranian Internet has been cut off by the regime. The cell phones first started being cut off at 2 pm, and with the steady drop in signals, Iran was plunged into “complete darkness of the Internet.”
