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| Ural Hatemi |
The pressure against prominent political activists in Iranian Azerbaijan has continued since September. In recent months, many activists have been interrogated in intelligence service detention facilities for long periods. For many activists previously prosecuted, sentences have been issued.
Sociologist and political activist Ural Hatemi commented on the increasing pressure on Turkish activists and the goals the Iranian government is pursuing with these arrests in an interview with Voice of America.
“The Iranian government has always continued its pressure in Azerbaijan. But at certain times, we see that this pressure increases. At certain times, we see the arrest of very prominent leading activists. At other times, we see the arrests of people whose names are not well-known or are little known,” said Ural Hatemi.
He referred to prominent activists Ibrahim Savalan and Yurush Mehrelibeyli, currently held in intelligence service detention centers in Tabriz and Ardabil, and stated, "In recent months, we see that the government has started arresting our more well-known and effective individuals. This actually has many messages and meanings. Especially when we look at Ibrahim Savalan and Yurush Mehrelibeyli, their arrests have become part of their identity, part of their lives. These people have spent a significant portion of their youth in prisons. They are periodically taken, threatened, tortured, and have their books, computers, and belongings taken. They come out again and continue their activities."
Hatemi emphasized that the government is most afraid of organized and planned activities.
“The thing the government is most afraid of is consistent and organized activities. That is, it is activists who engage in consistent and planned actions. People who have a strategy and have been carrying out a consistent activity for years, that form of activism is what the government is most afraid of. If we look at it, most of those arrested recently are exactly those types of activists,” the political activist noted.
He added, "My assumption is that Iran's security and intelligence forces treat the files of such people in a different category. That is, they never completely remove these activists' files from their desks. The files remain on the shelves, and whenever they find an opportunity, when their attention is no longer consumed by other crises and events, they pull out these files and start dealing with these activists in some way."
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Ural Hatəmi: Yürüş Mehrəlibəyli və İbrahim Savalan gəncliklərini İran həbsxanalarında keçiriblər