On the eve of the 17th commemoration of the Yarsan great master known as Seyed Khalil Alinezhad, Kermanshah Intelligence Office has summoned members of the Yarsan civil society activists’ council over the phone and pressured them not to attend this ceremony.
Despite these threats, a number of activists attended this ceremony, which was held Sunday, Nov 18, 2018.
A Yarsan activist from Kermanshah has told Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) that Kermanshah Intelligence Office has summoned a number of Yarsan activists and members of Advisory Council of Yasan civil society over the phone and threatened them not to attend the memorial ceremony of Seyed Khalil Alinezhad.
The Yasan Civil Society Forum has also issued a statement regarding the security measures taken against members of Yarsan Society and announced that a member of this society known as Khairallah Hagh Jooyan has abstained from participation in this ceremony upon the family of Seyed Khalil Alinezhad being pressured by the security institutions.
According to this activist, who supports the rights of Yarsan followers, the Yasan civil activists and a close friend of Sayyid Khalil Alynezhad known as Khayrollah Hagh Jooyan was threatened and banned from participating in this ceremony by the security forces. This civil activist has played a key role in arranging the memorial ceremony for the past 16 years.
The activist continued Mr.Hagh Jooyan had been summoned to Kermanshah Intelligence Office but he had ignored the telephone summons because it was not legal. However,
Yarsan civil society activists’ council
eventually he was forced to refrain from attending the ceremony due to being threatened by the security forces.
The activist concluded that several other members of the Yarsan Society were indirectly threatened with arrest by the Kermanshah intelligence Office on the pretext of allegedly stepping over the ‘red line’ of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Seyed Khalil Alinezhad was one of the well-known artists of Yarsan who was murdered in Sweden on November 11, 2001 by unknown people who then burned his corpse in fire. Yarsan activists have always believed in the role of the Iranian government in the murder of this artist and they hold a ceremony in his commemoration at the city of Sahneh in Kermanshah province every year. The Islamic Republic of Iran’s security institutions have always imposed restrictions on holding this memorial ceremony.
