JINHA

NEWS CENTER – Protestors arrested in the actions that swept the city of Mahabad, Iran in the wake of the death of young Kurdish woman Ferinaz Xosrawanî have been released and report torture under custody. Approximately 200 protestors are still detained.

Ferinaz Xosrawanî was working in the Tara Hotel in the city of Mahabad, in Eastern Kurdistan (Iran), when an Iranian intelligence officer attempted to rape her. Ferinaz fled out the balcony, falling to her death in an attempt to escape. In the wake of her death, the city erupted in protest. Protestors burned the Tara Hotel in the protests, which lasted for several days starting May 8.

The families of the detainees who have been recently released say they were held under poor conditions in the prisons and have torture scars on their bodies. Because Mahabad Prison was quickly filled to capacity, groups of prisoners were transferred to prisons in the cities of Urmia and Naqadeh, according to families.

(fk/cm)