From closing down shops and main streets of the city to pressure and threats on people to attend the ceremony and protest against Raesi's trip to Kurdistan

16:08 - 2 November 2023

According to a previous agreement, Ebrahim Raeesi (member of the Death Committee) traveled to Kurdistan province and Sanandaj city on Thursday, November 2, 2023. On one hand, his trip was accompanied by the closing down of shops and main streets of the city, pressure and threats on various groups to attend Raesi's reception, and government propaganda-ideological activities for months. On the other hand, the people of Sanandaj have expressed their opposition to his trip to Sanandaj with various slogans and protest movements over the past few days.

According to a knowledgeable source to Kurdpa; Security institutions and military forces have forced street vendors and shopkeepers on the main streets of the city to close their shops and have surrounded and closed down Eghbal (Azadi) and Enghelab Square, and the streets leading to these squares, including Ferdowsi, Sheshom Bahman, Vakil, Safari, Jandarmery, Hasanabad, Cyrus, and Namaki. Given that a large part of specialist physicians' clinics, private and public laboratories, pharmacies (where special patients from cities and villages near Kurdistan refer to them), and other essential needs of Sanandaj people are located in these streets. These security-military actions are a clear violation of patients' rights and disrupt people's work, life, and livelihood. A knowledgeable source to Kurdpa says: The people of Sanandaj consider such actions by the Islamic Republic in these difficult economic conditions as part of the project of suppressing Kurdistan and the revolutionary uprising of Jin, Jiyan, Azadi and want to show everything normal with Raesi's trip to Sanandaj while the people of Sanandaj are very angry with Raesi's trip to this city.

Government actions range from pressuring various groups to attend Raesi's reception to sending text messages and using children and spouses of security and judicial officials in Kurdish clothing

According to the information received by Kurdpa, security, and related institutions have been preparing for Ebrahim Raesi's trip to Kurdistan for months and have ordered a large number of children's Kurdish clothes (for girls and boys) and women's Kurdish clothes in the Asef Bazaar for ideological-propaganda purposes. According to an informed source of Kurdpa in this regard, three men similar to security officers have purchased these clothes, and the ordered clothes have also been delivered through soldiers who had nonformal clothing. The people of Sanandaj have now realized that the purchase of this large number of Kurdish clothes was for welcoming Raesi, and government officials and the families of security officials (most of whom are non-native to Kurdistan) have purchased these clothes for their children and spouses to show that Kurds have gone to Raesi's reception. In another case, security and government agencies have given papers to various groups under the guise of the Relief Committee and employees and put them under pressure that if they do not come to welcome Raesi, they will face disciplinary action or their salaries will be cut off.

In another case of pressure on people, schools in Sanandaj have sent papers to the parents of students and put them under pressure to obtain the consent of students' families to attend Raesi's reception ceremony.

Also, relevant institutions encourage people by sending text messages to welcome Raisi on Thursday at 9 a.m.

The popular reaction and protests against Ebrahim Raisi's trip to Kurdistan and Sanandaj are "Sanandaj is awake."

Over the past few days, with the publication of news of Raesi's trip to this city by government media, the people of Sanandaj have shown their protest in various ways.

In this regard, women and young people wrote protest slogans such as "Raesi, killer of young people and people of Kurdistan, get out of Sanandaj," "Aban (November) came with the smell of blood, Raesi's massacre came back to Sanandaj," and "Sanandaj's alleys and streets still smell like innocent young people's blood. You expect a warm welcome from the people of Sanandaj but people of Sanandaj are aware and awake" have protested against Raesi's presence in Sanandaj.

In another street tract, it is written, "Armita Garawand was killed, do you expect us to welcome you? Sanandaj is awake."

Also, on Wednesday night, November 1, 2023, some young people in Sanandaj showed their opposition by creating street barriers to Raesi's presence in Sanandaj.

In December 2022, while popular protests continued and the Islamic Republic had committed the government's murder of many people in Kurdistan province, Raesi traveled to Sanandaj amid severe security tensions."