NCPDA Press Release - 01/26/04

Shahr-e Babak Protest

Revolutionary Guards opened fire on anti-government demonstrators in Shahr-e Babak in the southern province of Kerman on Saturday, killing 15 protestors and injuring more than 300 people.

The uprising came at the end of a five-day sit-in protest by hundreds workers at Khatoon-Abad. the anti-riot security agents opened fire on the workers, killing a woman and a girl.

Clashes between the workers and Revolutionary Guards spread rapidly to Shahr-e Babak. Supported by local residents and young people, the workers blocked the highway leading to Khatoon-Abad.

The clerical regime’s authorities feared it might spread to other parts of the province because of the explosive atmosphere of discontent in Kerman Province following last month’s catastrophic earthquake in Bam. Special anti-riot units of Revolutionary Guards were departed to the area from Kerman and Tehran.

Some of the martyrs of the uprising have been identified by their surnames as Javidi, Mahmoudi, Pour-Amini and Mahdavi.

All the shops are closed in Shahr-e Babak in protest against the bloody suppression of yesterday’s protests. Despite the curfew, people have gathered in several parts of the city, saying that sit-ins and protests would continue