Mahabad; Diako Akush Albalaghi, a protester whose chance of regaining vision in his left eye is zero and who witnessed 20 protesters injured in the eye in a hospital room

The eye-injured people during the revolutionary uprising of Jin, Jiyan, Azadi, were among the large group of injured people whose high number shows that the repressive forces of the Islamic Republic deliberately shot at the heads and faces of the citizens and used it as one of the targeted patterns of repression.

Although due to the severe security atmosphere, there are no accurate statistics of the protesters injured in the eye area, the disclosure of a large number of people who were shot in the eye by the repressive forces and the fact that each of the eye-injured protesters witnessed several other injured people during the protests or in hospitals; also each of the eyewitnesses in their narratives is aware of several injured people; we will realize the existence of a large number of eye-injured people. On the other hand, in early December 2022, dozens of eye specialists in Iran also warned of the use of rubber bullets and paintballs in suppressing protesters and losing their vision by publishing a letter.

Kurdpa, which documents the wounded and killed of the revolutionary uprising of Jin, Jiyan, Azadi exclusively, this time in an interview with Diako (Smko) Akush Albalaghi, a citizen of Mahabad, has dealt with his injury during the popular protests in this city. Mr. Akush Albalaghi lost about 80% of his vision as a result of being shot by a rubber bullet in his left eye and due to the rupture of the cornea of ​​the eye, the probability of his vision returning is close to zero.

How Diako (Samko) Akush Albalaghi was injured during the popular protests in Mahabad on "Manba" Street;

Diako (Smko) Akush Albalaghi tells Kurdpa about his presence in the protests and the shooting of the repressive forces; on the evening of October 11, 2022, when it was getting dark, a group of citizens of Mahabad gathered peacefully on "Manba" Street to declare their support for the movement of Jin, Jiyan, Azadi, but after twenty minutes, close to 80 to 100 people from the repressive-governmental forces, consisting of three groups (local forces armed with Kalashnikovs, police forces and a special unit armed with rubber bullets and helmets), dragged the popular protests of the citizens to violence and shot at them. Mr. Akush Albalaghi was one of the protesters who was targeted by the rubber bullets of the repressive forces on that night and suffered severe damage and rupture of the cornea from the left eye.

The treatment of Diako (Samko) Akush Albalaghi by local people and his abstention from going to the medical centers of Mahabad for fear of arrest;

Mr. Akush Albalaghi tells Kurdpa; that after my eye was injured, the people moved me from "Manba" Street to a safe place, but for fear of arrest, I refrained from going to the hospital and medical centers of Mahabad. For this reason, I hid myself for two days and my companions and acquaintances treated me until I was transferred to the "Nikukari" hospital in Tabriz with the help and guidance of one of my brothers who lives outside Iran.

Losing 80% of the vision of the left eye of Diako (Smko) Akush Albalaghi and his observations of the hospitalization of 20 protesters injured in the eye only in one of the rooms of the "Nikukari" hospital in Tabriz;

After the transfer and admission of this young protester to the "Nikukari" hospital in Tabriz and undergoing eye surgery; due to severe damage caused by the rubber bullet, he lost about 80% of his vision. Also, due to the rupture of the cornea of ​​the eye, the probability of Diako (Smko) Akush Albalaghi's vision returning is close to zero.

Mr. Akush Albalaghi tells Kurdpa about the surgery and rupture of the cornea of ​​his left eye; as a result of the surgery, my left eye had 18 stitches, because in addition to the rubber bullet shot in my eye, due to the breaking of my glasses, pieces of it had also gone into my eye.

Mr. Akush Albalaghi tells Kurdpa about his observations during the two days of hospitalization in the "Nikukari" hospital in Tabriz and the number of eye-injured people in one room this hospital; during the two days of hospitalization in the "Nikukari" hospital in Tabriz and the room where I was hospitalized, about 20 people with eye injuries from the cities of "Kermanshah, Saqqez, Bukan and Mahabad" who were injured in the eye by the repressive-governmental forces, were hospitalized only in one room of the hospital. One of these eye-injured people was a citizen of Mahabad who had suffered severe damage from both eyes.

The summoning of Diako (Smko) Akush Albalaghi to the Intelligence Office of Mahabad twice along with beating and death threats;

Considering that the injured people were under severe pressure from the security agencies after being identified, Mr. Akush Albalaghi was no exception. Summoning and beating by the Intelligence Office of Mahabad, death threats and denial of being injured by the repressive governmental forces were part of the security pressures on this injured protester.

Diako (Smko) Akush Albalaghi tells Kurdpa; that after being discharged from the hospital, the Intelligence Office of Mahabad called my father and asked him to introduce me to this security agency; the contact and security pressure on me continued; for this reason, October 21, 2022, I introduced myself to the Intelligence Office of Mahabad.

Mr. Akush Albalaghi was interrogated violently and threatened for nearly five hours in this security agency. He says that; during this time, first one of the interrogators asked me the reason for my eye injury, then gave me a blindfold and the second interrogator beat me as soon as he entered. The second interrogator, in addition to beating me with "fists and kicks", threatened my family and said that the only way to save you was "death" and "you will not survive from us".

The interrogators forced Mr. Akush Albalaghi's family members to deny being injured by the repressive forces by beating, injuring, threatening to kill, pressuring them, and releasing him after nearly five hours of violent interrogation.

The summoning of this injured protester to the security agencies continues and he is summoned again to the Intelligence Office of Mahabad. This injured protester tells Kurdpa about his second summoning to the Intelligence Office of Mahabad; before being summoned again to the Intelligence Office of Mahabad, two cars of the type Samand, one with the license plate number 17 Urmia and the other a Peugeot 405 car, were chasing me on the street. When I was summoned for the second time on October 25, 2022 to the Intelligence Office of Mahabad, I did not inform my family. In this security agency, after 20 minutes of interrogation beating, and intimidation, they released me.

The continuous pressure and threats of the security agencies forced Diako (Smko) Akush Albalaghi to leave Iran;

Mr. Akush Albalaghi, despite being summoned and interrogated violently twice by the Intelligence Office of Mahabad; was constantly under the supervision and pursuit of the security forces and even did not have the possibility of leaving the city of Mahabad.

Diako (Smko) Akush Albalaghi tells Kurdpa; that if I left the city of Mahabad, for fear of being arrested again by the security forces, I would inform my family. Finally, due to the continuous pursuit of the security forces and the lack of personal security, I had to leave my homeland (Mahabad) and seek refuge in one of the neighboring countries of Iran.

He now lives secretly in one of the neighboring countries of Iran and still needs eye surgery and medical care.

The security pressures on the injured protesters were and are a violent method of continuing the repression. The Islamic Republic has put them under severe pressure by arresting, summoning, and threatening them after identifying the injured.

Eyewitnesses tell Kurdpa about this; after the severe suppression of the protesters and the direct shots and in many cases from close range to them, which resulted in the injury and even disability of some of them; the security forces, after identifying the injured, raided their homes to arrest them. Also, the fate of many of the injured who are still secretly under treatment is unknown. The Islamic Republic, by injuring the protesters, has not stopped harassing them and is trying to arrest and imprison them. The story of all the injured is also the same.

Prepared and arranged by; Sattar Ebrahimi