Shabtabnews In this dark night, I have lost my way – Arise from a corner, oh you the star of guidance.
Iranwire – Iranian authorities have arrested five Azeri activists amid a growing crackdown on ethnic minority rights.
Siamak Seifi, Milad Zeinolabedini, Samad Heydari, Amin Taghizadeh, and Amir Taghizadeh were arrested by security forces in northwestern Tabriz on March 13, according to the HRANA human rights activist news agency.
They were detained upon leaving a football stadium, and the charges against them remain unknown.
Siamak Seifi, renowned for his activism, has encountered prior arrests and legal obstacles.
A growing number of Azeri activists have been arrested since September last year, coinciding with the first anniversary of the Woman, Life, Freedom protests.
Those arrests were mainly carried out by agents from the Ministry of Intelligence, and some of the ones detained are still being kept in the detention center of this institution in Tabriz and in Meshginshahr’s prison.
According to the Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRA), security forces arrested 324 ethnic rights advocates last year.
Ethnic minorities in Iran face discrimination, which curtails their access to education, employment, and political office, and they are also subjected to arbitrary detention, unjust prosecutions, torture, and other ill-treatment.
