No information is available on the fate of Mehdi Qamari Binisili, a Turkish (Azari) civil rights activist (living in Tehran and recently detained by security forces).
Another Turkish (Azeri) civil activist Behnam Noormohammadi who was living in Tehran at the time and was arrested on March 14th, 2018. He has been detained in Evin Prison since and his stay has been extended until April 30th, 2018.
According to the Campaign for the Defense of Political and Civil Prisoners, the status of civil activist Mehdi Qamari Binisili living in Tehran has not been disclosed. He was allegedly detained by security guards in connection with the case of ” publishing a Turkish-language calendar.“ In the same news, the arrest of Behnam Noormohammadi which happened at his work station on March 14th, 2018, has been extended until April 30th, 2018.
Mehdi Qamari Binisili’s family has not yet been informed about the reasons for the detention and the whereabouts of the civil activist, and they are worried about their son’s condition.
Based on our reporting, the reasons for Mehdi Qamari Binisili’s arrest is related to Behnam Noormohammadi’s case and both are in connection with publishing of a Turkish-language calendar. According to websites close to the Iranian government and domestic news agencies, the main reason for Behnam Noormohammadi’s arrest was publishing a Turkish-language calendar, in which Mother Tongue Day was noted. Iranian Government does not support Iran’s regional language’ widespread use against the official Farsi language.
On March 22, 2018, after 9 days following-up on Behnam Noormohammadi’s status, they told his family that “the detention of this civil rights activist who lives in Evin Prison has been extended until April 30th, 2018.”
In 2013, Behnam Noormohammadi was arrested in Khoy. He along with his wife and children were attending Civil Activist Ebrahim Jafarzadeh’s funeral when he was arrested and was released on bail of 30 million Tomans ($6,000 as of 4/2/2018).