Yalda Aghafazli's Memorial Ceremony Canceled After Her Father's Summons to 'Places Administration'

Yalda Aghafazli's father, a protester killed during the 2022 protests, reported that he was summoned to the Places Administration to prevent government forces from holding a memorial for his daughter. Mehrdad Aghafazli announced on his Instagram account on Saturday, November 11, that government forces called him a day before the memorial to say, 'Come to the Places Administration.' He expressed that he was initially very stressed but then remembered his daughter, and 'a calmness filled his entire being.' He added, 'I went to the Places Administration. They said you are not allowed to hold any ceremony. I said I just wanted to hold a private ceremony; is that not my right? Then I asked how they knew. They said, 'We are keeping an eye on you.' Yalda's father responded, 'I am glad you have been involved with me for a year.' He continued, 'I am no longer afraid. My fear was for the life and future of my daughter, which is gone. Now my only fear is that you will come to my daughter's ceremony and harm the children of the people, and I will be ashamed in front of their parents.' The expression of fear from Yalda Aghafazli's father regarding the potential harm from Islamic Republic forces follows incidents that have occurred at the graves of some deceased protesters. For instance, after a ceremony held at the grave of Kian Pirfalak, a child killed in Izeh, the cousin of his mother, Pouya Molaei Rad, was shot dead by government forces. Mehrdad Aghafazli also emphasized that he is 'ashamed that I could not hold a good ceremony for my brave daughter' and announced the cancellation of the memorial for this victim of the 'Women, Life, Freedom' protests. Yalda Aghafazli, a 19-year-old protester, was arrested on October 26, 2022, in Tehran and transferred to Qarchak Prison in Varamin. After her release on November 6, she stated that she did not express regret during interrogations, but a few days later, she died under suspicious circumstances. However, the media center of the judiciary claimed, citing Mohammad Shahriari, the head of the Tehran Criminal Court, that Ms. Aghafazli's death was 'due to an overdose of crystal meth.' So far, official sources have attributed the deaths of several protesters to 'suicide,' 'heart attack,' 'underlying health issues,' or 'fear-induced heart attack,' and in some cases, the deaths of protesting citizens have been attributed to 'hypocrites' and 'rioters.' Video reports from the third memorial of Yalda Aghafazli show a crowd chanting: 'This flower that has withered has become a gift to the homeland' and 'They took our Yalda, they brought her corpse back.' The forced cancellation of Yalda Aghafazli's memorial in Tabriz comes as protesters in other cities, including Tehran, commemorate her one year after her death. A protest graffiti along with an image of Yalda Aghafazli sent to VOA states: 'The accused did not express regret.' In the weeks leading up to the anniversary of the killing of Mahsa Amini and the victims of last year's nationwide protests, Islamic Republic officials have attempted to prevent memorials for them by summoning and threatening the families seeking justice. Despite the pressure and the arrest of Mahsa's uncle, Amjad Amini, Mahsa Jina Amini's father announced that they would hold a memorial for 'the daughter of Iran,' but on the morning of the ceremony, he was detained for hours by the repressive forces of the Islamic Republic after leaving his home.