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Shaker Buri, an Iranian satirist known for his humorous critiques of the country’s state of affairs, has reportedly been detained by the Intelligence Office of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in the southwestern city of Abadan.
His arrest comes amid a crackdown on celebrities, and sports and cultural figures in the country who have supported protesters angered by the death of a young woman in police custody last year for an alleged violation of the mandatory head-scarf law.
Buri went missing on July 31 after visiting the IRGC Intelligence Office in Abadan to retrieve his mobile phone after it was confiscated during a raid on his home by plainclothes officers, according to social-media reports. Since his disappearance, he has reportedly been unable to contact his family.
Several prominent public figures have been summoned by the police or arrested in recent months, with officials warning women to respect the hijab law.
Since the death in September 2022 of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in police custody after allegedly breaking the hijab law, Iranians have flooded the streets across the country to protest against a lack of rights, with women and schoolgirls putting up unprecedented shows of support in what is considered one of the biggest threats to the Islamic government since the 1979 revolution.
Separately, Ali Asghar Hasani Rad, a former political prisoner who had been released under an “amnesty” decree, was rearrested by the IRGC Intelligence Office.
The human rights website HRANA, citing an informed source, said that the arrest occurred two months after security forces attempted to arrest him at his mother’s home. Hasani Rad was absent at the time, and has since been living clandestinely in the northern city of Nowshahr.
Details regarding the timing, reason for the arrest, the charges levelled, and Hasani Rad’s current whereabouts remain undisclosed.
Hasani Rad was initially arrested in 2019 and sentenced by Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court on charges of “assembly and collusion” against national security, “propaganda against the system,” and “insulting” the founder of the Islamic republic and its leadership.
The combined sentence amounted to 16 years and seven months in prison, and a two-year ban on membership in political parties and groups, as well as from activities in cyberspace, media, and press. He was also barred from leaving the country.
He spent 7 1/2 years behind bars before being released from Evin prison in February 2023 following the issuing of an amnesty decree by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
On February 5, state media reported that Khamenei issued an amnesty for “tens of thousands” of prisoners, including protesters arrested during the anti-government rallies sparked by Amini’s death.
Several lawyers, human rights activists, imprisoned protesters, and former political prisoners have dismissed the amnesty decree as thinly veiled propaganda.
Since the widely publicized issuance of the decree, which resulted in the release of several political and civil prisoners, a number have been rearrested and are now facing fresh charges.
Amini’s death, which officials blamed on a heart attack, touched off a wave of protests across the country. The authorities have met the unrest with a harsh crackdown that rights groups say has killed more than 500 people, including 71 children.
Officials, who have blamed the West for the demonstrations, have vowed to crack down even harder on the protests.
Several thousand people have been arrested, including many protesters, as well as journalists, lawyers, activists, digital rights defenders, and others.
Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL’s Radio Farda
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