Sardasht; a story of shooting 13 buckshot bullets at Ako Maroufi-Azar, one of the wounded in the revolutionary uprising of Jin, Jiyan, Azadi, and the possibility of losing sight of the eye

On the night of September 21, 2022, on the third day of the revolutionary uprising of Jin, Jiyan, Azadi, Ako Maroufi-Azar, a native of Sardasht, was targeted by the direct shooting of the suppressive forces during the popular protests in this city and was severely injured from the head and neck.

Kurdpa, which exclusively documents the wounded and killed of the revolutionary uprising of Jin, Jiyan, Azadi this time in an interview with "Ako Maroufi-Azar", a 28-year-old citizen of Sardasht, has addressed how he was injured during the popular protests in this city.

Mr. Maroufi-Azar, as result of shooting 13 buckshot bullets at the head, chest, arm, and right eye; three times undergoes surgeries, however, due to shooting at sensitive points of his eye, he still needs surgery to remove the buckshot, otherwise the possibility of losing sight of his eye is high.

On the other hand, this wounded protester, during the past year, due to the pressure of the security agencies, has lived secretly and finally, following the manual exit and being pursued, was forced to leave Iran.

Injuring Ako Maroufi-Azar by shooting 13 buckshot bullets at the chest, face and eye;

On the night of September 21, 2022, on the third day of the revolutionary uprising of Jien, Jiyan, Azadi and the continuation of the popular protests against the state killing of Jina-Mahsa Amini, Sardasht also joined the nationwide protests. Ako Maroufi-Azar was one of the protesters in this city who played an active role in the protests and was severely injured by the shooting of the suppressive forces. This injured protester tells Kurdpa about his participation in the protests and how he was injured; during the protests:

I took charge of the protesters' advance. The popular protests in Sardasht quickly faced the intervention and shooting of the suppressive forces, and I was also one of the wounded. The suppressive government forces stationed at the "Briso" checkpoint fired at us from a distance of 30 meters with a hunting rifle and I was severely injured by shooting 13 buckshot bullets at the head, chest, arm, and right eye.

Mr. Maroufi-Azar, after being injured, is transferred to a safe place by the people and refrains from going to the hospital in Sardasht for medical treatment for fear of arrest.

Referring to the "Nikukari" hospital in Tabriz due to the severity of the injuries;

Ako Maroufi-Azar, who had been transferred to a safe place, was treated superficially by his friends, but due to the severity of the injuries, he was referred to the "Nikukari" hospital in Tabriz.

Mr. Maroufi-Azar tells Kurdpa about this; In the "Nikukari" Hospital in Tabriz, I told the doctor that I was injured due to the collision of a "sharp object" and the doctor said don't worry, we will remove the buckshot from your eye. But I was still afraid of being arrested and went to a general practitioner in Tabriz, but due to the lack of facilities and expertise to perform surgery and remove the buckshot, I had to go back to the "Nikukari" Hospital in Tabriz.

The possibility of losing sight of the right eye if surgery is not performed;

In the "Nikukari" Hospital in Tabriz, with the efforts of the doctors, some of the buckshot was removed from the body of this injured protester, but still, in the areas of the head, hand, and eye, four buckshot remained.

Mr. Maroufi-Azar says this; in the "Nikukari" Hospital, I underwent eye surgery three times, but still two buckshots remained in the back of my right eye due to the sensitivity of the shooting point of the buckshot. For this reason, the doctors used the adhesive "silicone" on the back of my eye to prevent the buckshot from tearing the "retina".

Mr. Maroufi-Azar's right eye needs urgent surgery and if this operation does not take place, the possibility of losing sight of his right eye is very high.

The efforts and pressure of the government force the wounded to interview with the state media;

During the time that Ako Maroufi-Azar underwent eye surgery in the "Nikukari" Hospital in Tabriz, the government forces, to interview the wounded of the revolutionary uprising of Jin, Jiyan, Azadi, by going to the hospital, put them under pressure for the interview.

This protester hospitalized in the "Nikukari" Hospital tells Kurdpa about this; during the time that I was hospitalized with a large number of wounded citizens of the protests in the Nikukari hospital;

The government forces, by going to the hospital, demanded that we would be interviewed by the state television, they wanted to force us to say that we were hit by bullets by the "ISIS" forces. But we strongly rejected this request.

Mr. Maroufi-Azar, regarding the wounded of the protests in the "Nikukari" Hospital, says; a large number of the wounded were from the cities of Tehran, Bukan, Saqqez, Tabriz, Sardasht, and Mahabad.

Hiding and forced exit from Iran following the summons, travel ban, and being pursued;

This 28-year-old protester, after being injured and identified, is constantly under pressure from the security agencies, that he is forced to live secretly for a year.

He told Kurdpa about this; the security agencies repeatedly contacted me and wanted me to introduce myself to the security agencies. The summons and pressures continued until I had to live secretly in the city of Urmia and the surrounding villages for a year. But the pressures to arrest me continued and I realized that I was banned from traveling and was being pursued by the security forces; for this reason and by force, I sought refuge in one of the neighboring countries.

Ako Maroufi-Azar;

Ako Maroufi-Azar, son of Mostafa and Amina, was born on January 18, 1996, in the city of Sardasht.

He got married two months before being injured.

This citizen was a businessman.

Prepared and edited by; Sattar Ebrahimi