Thirty members of a group that calls itself the Mourning Mothers were arrested and transferred to a detention facility yesterday as they had just entered Laleh Park in Tehran.  Other members of the group issued a statement in which they ask for the immediate release of their friends.  

The Mourning Mothers, which is an independent women’s support group for mothers who have lost a child in recent events, was set to hold its weekly Saturday vigil at the Laleh Park, not knowing that security agents and the police were hiding in the park to prevent their entrance and gathering.  

One of the women present at the park tells Rooz, “Usually, the mothers gathered around the water fountain after five pm.  But yesterday, since about 4 pm a large number of security agents and police officers entered the park to prevent the women from entering it.  Those who entered it too weren’t allowed to sit while some were violently redirected towards the exit.  Their behavior was very insulting.”

This Mourning Mother estimated that tens of mourning mothers were present at the park, adding, “Many of us were forced to flee the scene using secure exits, but the number of the agents was very high.  They were everywhere.  On the way home I heard that thirty people were arrested.”  

Mourning Mothers released a statement late last night, noting, “There is never a week when the police, security and plainclothes agents are not present at Laleh Park so as to allow a group of mourning mothers to endanger national security with their peaceful protest.”  The statement reads, following the arrest of the group’s members: “On Saturday, January 9, thirty mothers at Laleh Park were arrested on various excuses and transferred to a detention facility before participating in any gathering or protest.  We condemn this illegal and inhuman act and demand the immediate release of our friends.”  The statement was released while the participants reported that a 75-year-old mother was among the arrestees.  

In another part of the statement, the Iranian government is addressed: “To end the gathering of mothers pay attention to their demands, release all ideological prisoners and punish the perpetrators and agents of murder of innocent and defenseless people in a public trial.”  

The group Mourning Mothers in Iran was created in response to the Iranian government’s violent treatment of post-election protesters.  The group has announced via its statements that its creation is to prevent the repeat of the 1980s scenario, when children of Iran were murdered and their families were suppressed in silence.