Jaras: The funeral and burial  of Mr. Ezatollah Sahabi was done oppressed in the ring  of security forces and  plainclothe detectives  and a number of the participants were arrested and transferred to an unknown place.

According to Jaras Tuesday night (31 May) security forces brought pressure on Sahabi families that the funeral must be started an hour earlier and the Sahabi family tried to inform late night the friends and relatives to attend the event at 7.30 instead of 8.30. However, the security forces forced the family to hold the funeral ceremony on Wednesday morning even half an hour earlier by the time required. One of the Sahabi Family relatives in an interview with Jaras talked about the way for holding the ceremony.  He said the body of the late Ezatollah Sahabi was washed ceremonially in the courtyard of his house and among his family members and the funeral was held on the shoulders of the youth and allies to engineer at a distance of 30-40 meters to the street but in the same short distance agents were bringing tension and conflict. A few of the young people present at the ceremony were beaten and several were arrested, and also were transferred to an unknown place by a bus. Yet the detainees’ identities are not known. He continued “Mr. Sahabi’s body was immediately kidnapped at the beginning of the conflict created by officers and plainclothes. Sahabi’s body was taken into the cemetery and they blocked the entrance and no one from family and friends wasa allowed entering the cemetery. Agents wanted no prayer on the body and ordered a fast burial, but Sahabi’s children strongly protested.
Sahabi’s grandchildren said “Hamed Sahabi was upset because the intelligence forces were trying to bury a Muslim like Sahabi without prayers and due to his insistence he finally was allowed to bring one of the relatives to pray while the family asked Hojatoleslam Ahmad Montazeri to pray, but agents didn’t allow anybody to approach and the body was buried in silence”.

He added “security forces operations in the abduction of the deceased body of Sahabi were so brazen and quick, that the family and crowd still remained shocked at the back door of the cemetery. When they opened the door to the cemetery, officials reported that the burial was done. During the funeral and prayer in quietude the funeral and burial of the late Sahabi was done under strict security measures only thirty minutes unprecedented”

The grandson of Mr. Sahabi says that the conflict which was begun by the security forces in the first minutes of the funeral along with insults had no specific cause. Security forces were trying to block the crowd and did not allow them to move in long distances. The crowd was very quiet and without any political slogan shouting Allah Akbar held the funeral. It was at dawn on the streets when a large number of security forces and plain-clothes started insulting with loud voices and tried to create tension and disturbed the peace that eventually led to conflict and beating of a number of mourners and friends of the late Sahabi. Plain-clothes forces behaved in a way that even the police tried to appease them. It is worth mentioning that because of changes at the ceremony time and the security forces’ pressure to hold the ceremony as soon as possible, many people could not succeed in the ceremony and only 500 people attended funeral who were moving from dawn. Even barriers were placed in Babai highway to Lavasan entry and traffic was slow. The population was present in the cemetery and Ms. Haleh Sahabi due to bad physical condition and pressure was admitted in a local hospital. A ceremony is going to be held tomorrow in Tehran by Mr. Sahabi’s family.