Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has been informed that security forces and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have put pressure on the families of the victims who lost their lives in the Ukrainian plane crash.
The Boeing 737-800 passenger plane flying to Kyiv crashed minutes after take-off from the Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran on January 8. All the 176 people on this plane including 169 passengers and 9 crew members were killed in this incident.
According to the various sources from the cities of Mahabad, Sanandaj and Saqqez, security agencies have subjected the discharge and burial of victims’bodies to 3 conditions including transport by a state ambulance from Tehran to their home cities, covering the coffins with the flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran and burial in the part dedicated to the martyrs of the Islamic Republic in the cemeteries of their home cities.
“Ambulances carrying the bodies of five victims who lost their lives in the plane crash arrived Mahabad yesterday morning. The families were told that the body of their loved ones would only be discharged on 3 conditions, one of which was to bury the victims’ bodies in the specific section of the martyrs of the Islamic Republic of Iran. However, the families did not agree to this condition and buried the bodies in the Baghe Ferdous of Mahabad. “, a source in the Mahabad city told KHRN.
Covering the coffins of one of the victims with the flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Mahabad sparked protests by the victim’s family and relatives.
The videos also posted to KHRN show that the families have removed the flags of Iran from their coffins while protesting.According to this source, the bodies of “Hiwa Molani”, “Kurdia Molani”, “Avin Arsalani”, “Fatemeh (Sirwe) Pasavand”, “Aisha (Sinur) Pourkadari” were buried in Baghe Ferdous of Mahabad yesterday morning. A large number of security forces were reportedly present at the funeral to prevent protests.Meanwhile, KHRN’s sources in Sanandaj have reported that the bodies of Arvin Moratab and Aida Farzaneh have been handed over to their families yesterday morning but the security forces have threatened these families to hold the funerals only in the presence of acquaintances and close relatives.
Another source in Saqqez has told KHRN that the bodies of “Rezgar Rahimi” and his son “Jivan Rahimi” have been handed to their families while threatening them to observe the afore-mentioned 3 conditions.
According to this source, the body of one of the victims called Farideh Ghulami- Resgar Rahimi’s wife who was pregnant -has not been handed over to her family yet.
KHRN has interviewed several members of the families about the accuracy of IRGC claims in the media regarding the death of military commanders in the funerals. The families have strongly denied this allegation while stating that they had neither welcomed government officials in the funeral of their loved ones nor accepted their repeated requests to visit the victims’ families in their home in commemoration of their loss.
Covering the coffin of one of the victims with the flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Mahabad has raised protests by family and relatives.
The family and relatives of the victims asked to remove the flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran from the coffin.
Security forces are said to have subjected the discharge of victims’ bodies and burial to covering the coffin with the flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
