Transfer of Detainees from Private Parties in Torqabeh to Court with 'Handcuffs and Leg Irons'

While the Torqabeh Prosecutor's Office denied the news of the arrest of 173 citizens in Razavi Khorasan Province for attending a party, an informed source stated that the detainees were transferred to Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad, and judicial authorities brought them to court in a 'truly strange' scene with 'handcuffs, leg irons, and prison clothes.' A family member of one of the detainees said on Monday, August 21, that these individuals were not provided with 'any water or food during the 24 hours' and were taken to Vakilabad Prison at 8 AM on Saturday. This informed source told the Dadban legal group that 'they were brought to court with handcuffs, leg irons, and prison clothes,' describing the scene as 'truly strange.' Three days ago, the Islamic Republic-affiliated news agency IRIB reported that 173 individuals were arrested in three 'mixed' private parties in this city, citing the deputy prosecutor of Torqabeh Shandiz in Razavi Khorasan Province. This media also quoted 'Judge Jafari' stating that 'more than 50 liters of alcoholic beverages were discovered and seized in these three operations, and 35 vehicles were confiscated.' This news was subsequently 'denied' by Hassan Mohammadzadeh, the prosecutor of Torqabeh, and the state news agency IRNA reported that Jafari 'did not conduct an interview on this matter.' Meanwhile, according to a citizen whose two family members were present at the mentioned party and arrested, the detainees were asked for '80 million [tomans] bail each,' and despite having received 'documents or business licenses, or money,' they 'refused to release them.' The informed source, whose detained brother is a doctor with high blood pressure, stated that authorities did not allow his medications to be delivered to him and emphasized that 'all families' were 'kept waiting under the sun for hours,' ultimately not releasing the detainees. The Dadban legal advisors linked these arrests to the approaching anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini and accused the Islamic Republic of using 'all tools for maximum repression.' The report emphasized that 'the intrusion of the government, especially security and military institutions, into the private gatherings of citizens and interference in their personal lives is a clear violation of the right to freedom of expression and thought' and also violates 'the public rights of citizens to enjoy security and freedom.' The attempt to impose the policies of the Islamic Republic on the personal lives of citizens, such as mandatory hijab enforced under the guise of 'enjoining good and forbidding wrong,' and interference in their lifestyles, such as arresting individuals at private parties, has repeatedly taken lives. For instance, in early July, following an attack by the Islamic Republic's law enforcement on a 'mixed party' in Mashhad, a young man who attempted to escape from the authorities fell from the sixth floor of a building and died. Additionally, Kazem Alamdari, a sociologist residing in the United States, emphasized in an interview with VOA that the Islamic Republic is also directly responsible for the lives lost due to the consumption of counterfeit alcohol.