Security Forces Assault Hassanzadeh Family on Birthday of Fallen Protester
On July 30, 2024, during the birthday of Mohammad Hassanzadeh, a victim of Iran’s 2022 nationwide protests in Bukan, security forces launched an attack on his family home. They violently arrested his father and sister, Ahmad and Sulmaz Hassanzadeh.
The situation escalated as they physically assaulted his mother and two neighbor women. The incident occurred while the Hassanzadeh family prepared to commemorate their late son’s birthday.
Sulmaz Hassanzadeh, Mohammad’s sister, bore the brunt of the assault. Security forces used a stun gun on her knees during her arrest. When her mother attempted to intervene, she was punched in the chest and fell to the ground, subsequently requiring hospitalization.
Meanwhile, two neighbor women who tried to document the security forces’ actions had their mobile phones confiscated and were also physically beaten.
On Wednesday, July 31, only one day after her arrest, Sulmaz Hassanzadeh, 30, was transferred to the women’s ward of the Central Prison of Urmia.
Her father, Ahmad Hassanzadeh, 57, is presently detained in the Central Prison of Bukan. Security forces have set a bail of 4 billion Tomans for his temporary release.
Mohammad Hassanzadeh, a 28-year-old from Bukan, had previously lost his left eye due to three pellet gunshots sustained during the protests. Despite undergoing multiple surgeries in Tabriz and Tehran, his eye remained blind.
Tragically, he was shot and killed by security forces during the public demonstrations in the city on November 16, 2022, as he was trying to save a young woman from being arrested by revolutionary guards.
