5 Iranian safety officers pounced on a younger protester after he fell to the bottom, beating him severely. As a crowd approached to intervene, one officer held a gun to the person’s head, threatening to shoot him if anybody got here nearer.
The a number of dozen demonstrators backed away, however the officers, strengthened with extra manpower, fired three warning pictures into the air and charged towards the group.
Two extra pictures rang out. When the smoke cleared on Zerhi Avenue, 20-year-old Omid Moayidi was useless.
Eyewitnesses to what occurred on the night of November 13 throughout protests within the southwestern metropolis of Shiraz mentioned the college pupil was first shot within the again as he and different protesters fled. After he fell from the primary bullet, he was then shot at shut vary within the head.
“They shot him. They shot him within the brow,” certainly one of two witnesses to the capturing informed RFE/RL’s Radio Farda on situation of anonymity out of issues for his or her security.
Each of the eyewitnesses mentioned Moayidi was shot after becoming a member of others to assist the protester who was being overwhelmed. A 3rd mentioned Moayidi’s physique was taken away shortly after he was shot.
Sources with data of the state of affairs, additionally talking on situation of anonymity, mentioned the household acquired the runaround from the authorities as they tried to find out Moayidi’s destiny, and had been solely capable of affirm that he had died three days after he was shot by safety forces.
The authorities, in the meantime, have tried to make use of Moayidi’s demise to their benefit by portraying him as an harmless sufferer, claiming that he wasn’t taking part on the street demonstrations and was hit by a bullet fired by demonstrators as he drove on one other metropolis avenue.
The authorities’ claims, mixed with stress on the household to observe the official line that Moayidi was a “martyr” of the nation’s clerical regime, have solely satisfied his relations that they’re making an attempt to cowl up his killing by safety forces.
Sources with data of the state of affairs informed RFE/RL’s Radio Farda that there was little doubt Moayidi had joined protests going down in Shiraz on November 13. The demonstrations within the metropolis that day honored the anniversary of “Bloody November,” a lethal crackdown on anti-government protests in 2019 that rights teams mentioned left as many as 1,500 protesters useless.
The protests in Shiraz had been additionally a neighborhood continuation of ongoing antiestablishment demonstrations that erupted throughout the nation following the September 16 demise of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish lady who died shortly after she was arrested by the morality police for allegedly violating the nation’s head-scarf regulation.
Rights teams say at the least 458 protesters have been killed by authorities forces through the state’s crackdown on the demonstrations, which have posed one of the vital critical challenges to Iran’s clerical institution that has dominated for the reason that Islamic Revolution in 1979.
‘You Killed My Little one’
Sources with data of the state of affairs mentioned that Moayidi’s brother was with him, however they had been separated when the safety officers attacked. His brother returned residence safely and the household instantly got down to decide Moayidi’s whereabouts.
After repeated calls from Moayidi’s mom on the night time of November 13, a person answered Moayidi’s cell phone and informed her that her son had been arrested and she or he ought to contact the knowledge workplace of the native department of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, in response to the sources.
Repeated follow-ups led to additional referrals to the native police, Intelligence Ministry department, and different authorities workplaces, the sources with data of the state of affairs mentioned. Lastly, after three days, the household acquired a name directing them to go to the morgue to establish Moayidi’s physique.
When his father arrived, he was proven solely his son’s face, which he mentioned had a bullet gap within the brow. However Intelligence Ministry officers later informed Moayidi’s father that the official forensic report solely talked about a bullet wound to the again, in response to the sources with data of the state of affairs.
The sources informed Radio Farda that representatives of varied companies went to the household residence and informed Moayidi’s dad and mom that he was shot by protesters whereas driving his automotive, an account that the household didn’t settle for.
In response to the sources, on the insistence of Moayidi’s mom, she was allowed to see her son’s physique previous to his burial on November 23. However when she was introduced with Moayidi’s physique, it was fully lined aside from the face, together with his brow wrapped in a flag.
Safety officers later informed the household that Moayidi was shot whereas driving by somebody who fired at shut vary, resulting in an accident, in an obvious try to clarify the pinnacle wound.
That declare prompted the household to file an official grievance with the native department of the Intelligence Ministry wherein they demanded to know who killed Moayidi.
As Moayidi’s funeral approached, in response to the sources, the household was pressured to permit him to be buried as a martyr in a funeral to be paid for by the state. “They went to Omid’s home…and mentioned that they had been burying Omid and would have a ceremony for him,” the sources mentioned.
The intention, the sources imagine, was to make use of Moayidi’s identify to focus on the demise of a member of the Basij paramilitary drive who shared Moayidi’s final identify and died in Shiraz the identical night time. “They declared Mohammad Moayidi [the Basij member] a martyr and needed to carry up Omid as effectively and say that we now have misplaced two martyrs,” one of many sources informed Radio Farda.
However regardless of threats that his brother and father might face arrest if the household didn’t adjust to the authorities’ needs and abide by the official line that Moayidi had been killed by protesters, the household refused to go alongside. “His mom mentioned, ‘You killed my little one…do no matter you need [to us for refusing],'” one of many sources near the household mentioned.
Moayidi was ultimately buried in a personal ceremony, in accordance with the household’s needs. However the nameless sources mentioned that the ceremony was restricted to shut relations. The household was not allowed to announce Moayidi’s funeral, the sources mentioned, and the 50 individuals who attended had been watched over by tons of of safety personnel.
Since then, the sources with data of the state of affairs informed Radio Farda, the household has been pressured to talk publicly on radio and tv to repeat the official narrative that Moayidi was a sufferer of protester violence. However the household has not given in.
Prosecutors in Fars Province, of which Shiraz is the capital, have continued to say that Moayidi was killed by “rioters.” They’ve mentioned that his demise had led to a number of arrests on the scene and {that a} prison investigation continues. State media has reported that Moayidi’s demise occurred on November 14, the day after the protests.
