No public memorial services allowed for executed prisoners

Shaabaninejadi and Rashedi were hanged on January 26, but the intelligence ministry only informed the families three days later.

Zamaneh – Officials have refused to return the remains of executed Arab-Iranian prisoners Hashem Shaabaninejad and Hadi Rashedi to their families and forbidden them from holding any commemoration services.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reports that the two families have been warned that attempts to hold a ceremony in the mosque will be subject to legal prosecution.

Shaabaninejadi and Rashedi were hanged on January 26, but the intelligence ministry only informed the families three days later.

The officials have told the families that they can hold a private ceremony at home but no visitors are allowed.

On Wednesday, when news of the execution of Shaabaninejad and Rashedi was publicized, a group of local youth gathered in protest, holding the victims’ pictures, but security forces dispersed the group and arrested three people.

Shaabaninejad and Rashedi were arrested as part of a group of young Arab-Iranian members of a cultural group called Al-Hawar and were sentenced to death for “enmity against god and acting against national security.”