Esmail Sargolzai

A few days after the murder of Mahsa Amini, a girl from Saqez who was killed by the morality police in Tehran, Baloch citizens took to the streets of Zahedan in protest of this murder and in solidarity with the national uprising. At the same time, Baloch citizens were also infuriated by the rape of a 15-year-old Baloch girl by the chief of police of Chabahar (Ebrahim Kouchakzaei). After the temporary Friday-prayer Imam of Rask (Abdol- Ghaffar Naghshbandi) confirmed the rape, people’s anger reached a new level. In the early days of fall protests occurred in several towns including Chabahar and Iranshahr. On Friday, September 30th, after the Friday-prayer, the people of Zahedan gathered in protest in front of a police station and expressed solidarity with the national uprising and their disgust for the rape of the 15-year-old-girl. The state forces attacked the gathering with live ammunition and killed over 100 people (including 14 children) and wounded dozens. The attack led to widespread protests in the region and arrests of dozens of Baloch citizens. <symbol-timeline></symbol-timeline>

• <coverage-outsourcing id='47211'> <reference source='https://t.me/balochcampaign/12792'> He was arrested. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
• <coverage-outsourcing id='47214'> <reference source='https://t.me/balochcampaign/13463'> He was released on bail. On February 5th, 2023, the Islamic Republic's Judiciary issued a memo that announced the beginning of the process of releasing some of the protesters arrested during the 2022 national uprising. According to the judiciary's Mizan website, and latest comments made by the spokesperson for the judiciary, this "pardon" is in honor of the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution and contingent on the prisoners expressing regret; The pardon is not extended to cases with charges such as "connection to dissident groups", and "destruction of public property". However, many of the released prisoners have posted videos and notes saying they never requested a pardon and never expressed regret. There are even videos of female activists taking off their hijab and chanting against the Islamic Republic in front of the prison moments after their release. The release of prisoners being called a pardon has caused massive reaction online and some activists on social media and human rights organizations consider it a PR stunt to repair some of the damage to Ali Khamenei's image. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>