Neda Soltan's grieving family not the only ones targeted by the Iran hard-liners–others charged 'bullet fees'

horror, tragedy

The comments of Neda Soltan’s fiancee, Caspian Makan, paint a troubling picture of Neda’s family and loved ones being bullied by the Iran regime even while they try to cope with her murder.

–’We worked so hard to get the authorities to release her body.’

–’The officials from the morgue asked if they could use parts of her corpse for body transplants for medical patients. They didn’t specify what exactly they intended to do. Her family agreed because they wanted to bury her as soon as possible.’

–’We buried her in the Behesht-e-Zahra cemetery in southern Tehran. They asked us to bury her in this section where it seemed the authorities had set aside spaces for graves for those killed during the violent clashes in Tehran last week.’

–’On Monday afternoon, we had planned to hold a memorial service at the mosque. ..the Basij, wouldn’t allow it because they were worried it would attract unwanted attention and they didn’t want anymore trouble. The authorities are aware that everybody in Iran and throughout the whole world knows about her story. So that’s why they didn’t want a memorial service. They were afraid that lots people could turn up at the event. So as things stand now, we are not allowed to hold any gatherings to remember Neda.’


The Times of London: They forbade her family from holding a wake in a Tehran mosque. They ordered them to bury her without fanfare or eulogy. They ordered them not to speak about her in public, and reportedly even told them to remove the black mourning ribbons outside their house. The state-controlled media mentioned Miss Soltan only to suggest that her death was staged.


If you think that’s bad, then you’ll be furious at the story the Wall Street Journal is reporting [first, via The Beast]:

Iran Charging Bullet Fee

A family in Iran whose son was caught and killed in the protests’ crossfire Saturday was asked to pay the equivalent of $3,000 for the bullet used by security forces, The Wall Street Journal reports. 19-year-old Kaveh Alipour, who was engaged to marry his fiancé next week, was leaving an acting class when he was shot in the head at an intersection in downtown Tehran. Alipour’s father reportedly told police all of his possessions wouldn’t amount to $3,000. The morgue agreed to waive the fee but ordered that Alipour not be buried in the city of Tehran as retribution. He is one of dozens killed in the violent protests in the last week.


The Wall Street Journal Report:

When Mr. Alipour didn’t return home that night, his parents began to worry. All day, they had heard gunshots ringing in the distance. His father, Yousef, first called his fiancée and friends. No one had heard from him.

At the crack of dawn, his father began searching at police stations, then hospitals and then the morgue.

Upon learning of his son’s death, the elder Mr. Alipour was told the family had to pay an equivalent of $3,000 as a “bullet fee”—a fee for the bullet used by security forces—before taking the body back, relatives said.

Mr. Alipour told officials that his entire possessions wouldn’t amount to $3,000, arguing they should waive the fee because he is a veteran of the Iran-Iraq war. According to relatives, morgue officials finally agreed, but demanded that the family do no funeral or burial in Tehran. Kaveh Alipour’s body was quietly transported to the city of Rasht, where there is family.

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