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Protests rock governor’s office in western Iran
Mon. 10 Jan 2005
Iran Focus

Tehran, Jan. 10 – Angry residents from the town of Baneh in Kurdistan province (Western Iran) attacked the governor’s office with stones and sticks at the start of the New Year after hearing of the murder of an individual by State Security Forces (SSF).

Eyewitnesses reported seeing shattered glass from the windows of the governor’s office scattered nearby.

Protests erupted after news of the circumstances of the death of Ibrahim Hassanzadeh spread among locals. Agents of the SSF reportedly stopped Hassanzadeh on the bridge leading to the Bouin village and then shot him at point blank on January 01.

Upon hearing the news on the same day residents stormed the governor’s office demanding repercussions for those involved in the murder. Locals said that authorities brought in a number of Special Forces agents to fight off the crowd via helicopters from the nearby city of Sanandaj.

On January 04 a member of Iran’s Majlis (parliament) admitted to the systematic use of excess force by security forces against citizens.

Fakhroldin Heydari, the Majlis deputy from Baneh revealed that two individuals in his constituency were shot and killed by “aggressive security forces” in the past month and a number of others were badly wounded.