An Iranian man in Ahvaz, southwestern Iran was detained on June 13 after he spoke out against Iran’s Chief Justice and presidential candidate in a circulating video on social media.
According to reports, he was arrested at his workplace at 1.30 am and taken to an unknown location. The man had said in the video that Iran’s Chief Justice and presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi’s election office had extorted money from fruit vendors for Raisi’s election campaign.
An informed source said this man was the accountant secretary in Booth 30 of Ahvaz’s Al-Ghadir fruits and vegetables market.
“I work in the fruit and vegetable market. They came to our booth. We have 120 stalls. Each stall costs 2 million tomans (about $83). They took 240 million tomans ($9,950) and said it’s to help Raisi. Why would Raisi need our help? Why would a president need our help? We should not vote. We live in Iran, but we cannot breathe. Why should I vote? Don’t vote,” the man had said in the footage.
Security forces arrested this man in his place of work at 1am on Jun.13. He had said in the video (0:46) that Chief Justice/presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi's election office extorts money from fruit vendors for Raisi's election campaign. https://t.co/6xGw6On7q8
— Iran News Wire (@IranNW) June 14, 2021
There has been an increase in arrests and threats by security forces, judiciary, and other regime officials in the past weeks, due to the upcoming presidential elections.
Last week, a retired teacher was detained for protesting a cleric’s election propaganda at his cousin’s funeral in Germi County, northwestern Iran.
On June 1, the Chief Justice of Kurdistan said in a meeting that anyone who crossed the regimes “red line” in cyberspace regarding the upcoming elections would be severely dealt with.
On June 8, a man was arrested for posting “tension-causing” content on his Instagram account about the upcoming presidential elections in West Azerbaijan, northwestern Iran.
On May 23, a Kurd journalist was detained in the western province of Ilam for writing a piece that was critical of Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s current Chief Justice and presidential candidate.
Source » irannewswire