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| Urmia, West Azerbaijan Province - November 9, 2015 |
A ruling has been issued for 23 young protesters, three of whom are women.
In November 2015, mass "anti-racism" protests took place in the Azerbaijani regions of Iran in response to discriminatory policies against Turks. During these protests, 23 young people—both men and women—were detained in Tabriz. They have since been sentenced to 74 lashes and one year in prison, with the sentence being suspended.
According to a court document published on the Oyan News website, those sentenced include Səhər Tirəndaz, Hədiyə Fəthi, Sürəyya Azərhava, Fərşad Sadıqi Xiyavi, Şayan Dövlət Abadi, Səfər Bayrami, Ramin Behzad, Milad Əsgər, Bağır Fərmərzi, Süheyl Qadıri, Rza Bağıri, Məhəmməd Şəfaiyan, Nasir Purxədiv, Sacid Ənami, Bəhram Cövdət, Tovhid Əlicani, Təyyib Əlicani, Ümid Hatəmi, Əli Pejman, Adil Əmirpur, Hamid Nəsibi, Əlirza Abdullahi, and Əlirza Şaban Qışlaq, who were tried on charges of "participating in an illegal protest and disturbing public order."
According to the judgment signed by Judge Mohammad Ali Piri, the young people from Tabriz will face lashes and prison sentences if they commit any further offenses within the next three years.
In November of the previous year, following the airing of a children's program called "Fitileh" on Iranian state television, in which Turks were belittled, widespread protests erupted in Iranian Azerbaijan and Tehran. Many citizens and activists were subjected to police violence and arrests.
Link to the original text in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Təbrizdə irqçiliyə qarşı etirazlara qatılanlara 74 şallaq və bir il həbs cəzası