Witness name and surname: Withheld
Sex: Female
The place about which he is testifying: Shiraz
Type of testimony before the Tribunal: Withheld
On 16 November, In the evening, there were more than 1,000 people at the Zendan intersection. Most were young men and boys, but there were also plenty of women. The patrol motorcycles came from North Edalat Boulevard for a quarter of an hour or half an hour until they stopped in front of the bridge, firing tear gas under the bridge. Because most of the protest was happening there. They also opened fire and shot up Pourbirak Street, which is in front of Hashemi Park. After that, they returned. There were probably more than 20 motorcycles. They wore black uniforms, I think it wrote POLICE on their uniforms, and they had big motorcycles. Their faces were covered since, they all of them were wearing helmets. Usually, two people were sitting on motorcycles. Tear gas was fired directly at the crowd and hit everyone.
On 17 November, I went out at 11:30-12. It was very crowded between Zendan intersection and Pourbirak Street. There were at least 1,000 people. It was impossible to get under the bridge because of the fire and tear gas. Under the bridge were plainclothes agents. It turned out that they are Basijis. Maybe 5-6 people. There was a white sack type of thing, on their heads that covered their faces, and their eyes were only visible. Agents were firing with shotguns between the Zendan intersection and Pourbirak Street. They had a big gun in their hand. It did not matter to them at all who they shot. They dispersed people from under the bridge but then it began to spread into alleys and side streets. We also heard gunshots in the alley. Some people went to one of the allies in Edalat Boulevard and fired. Some plainclothes agents of either the Basij or the IRGC also came to Pourbirak Street. They came forward and it did not matter to them who was standing there. My mother wanted to go to the bakery where the boys ran away, and the plainclothes agents followed the young men down the street. He kept firing like that. A young boy walks up and shoved my mother, my mother hit a car and fell to the ground. That is, if that boy had not thrown my mother, she would have been shot in the eye or in the face. My mother goes to the bakery, which is close to the intersection; she was saying that they had even come there, and still shooting with military grade bullets and it did not matter to them at all where it hit. Even those standing at the gates of their houses were shot at. They fired incessantly and one after another.
I went toward the bank and the mosque. A boy told me not to go further because they were shooting. A girl was shot in the thigh, and it was bleeding profusely; I believe they shot her on another part of her body as well. On Pourbirak Street there was an open space. They came there and fired. Then there was a boy who had been shot in both feet. I saw two or three people who were shot. {The distance between the people and the agents} was maybe 30 meters. Sunday was much busier, and they fired mercilessly. They continually threw {tear gas} at the crowd. It was said that either a young boy or a middle-aged man had been shot and hit in the neck and had fallen under a bridge. My mother also said that the agents were not allowing anyone go to help, and a woman told my mother that she had screamed to call an ambulance. Then the agents had told her to get lost because it was none of her business.
Then we went to the hospital. The Sarbaz intersection and North Safeer was also crowded. Agents were standing there in uniforms, holding guns. There were 20-25 of them. They did not even cover their faces. They were agents from Ghadamgah precinct 17. They carried big guns that you usually see in the hands of soldiers. Police agents themselves have handguns. People also stood and closed the crossroads. We passed quickly. Zerehi Street was deserted because there was an IRGC barracks nearby. But it turned out that they had set fire to the ground. When we returned, to the Sarbaz intersection, it was crowded. The Bushehr-Shiraz Road was also closed. There were agents at the Sarbaz intersection and also protesters.
We came home and at 6-7 p.m. I went to Pourbirak. No one was allowed to stand under the bridge. There were possibly 100 people in Pourbirak Street and a few alleys of North Edalat Boulevard. There is a Banafsheh Park, which is a local park, in front of which is Hashemi Park. In this park, there is a small Hosseinieh (a congregation hall for Twelver Shia Muslim commemoration ceremonies, especially those associated with the Mourning of Muharram) called Rahrovan Shohada with some playground equipment and electric cars section. Pellets were being fired directly from the roof of the Hosseinieh and the electric cars section. The light sparking from the shots was visible. The young men who went in front of them also shot from the roof. There was a street distance between them.
People were standing in the alley or on Pourbirak Street. A few plainclothes agents came out of the park, not exactly inside Pourbirak Street, but stood in front of the park, firing from the alley and lobing tear gas. The agents were in plainclothes. Sunday evening was very deserted because of the large number of agents. I came home at 7:30, but the sound of gunfire continued until 1:30-2a.m.. Maybe six or seven bullets were fired. It was clear that it was the sound of military grade bullets gunfire. I did not see it, but I think that at 1:30-2, when they wanted to disperse them, they fired.
I heard that people protest against the Basijis of the Hosseinieh in Hashemi Park, The Basijis said that it was not they who’d been shooting but the IRGC connected to Khatam al-Anbiya camp, who had fired from the Hosseinieh.
On 18 November, , the bridge and the Zendan intersection had been re-opened. There were plenty of agents, standing all along the non-level bridge of Edalat intersection. There were two big buses waiting for those who they grabbed to be shoved inside. There was a bus on Pourbirak Street. There was a lot of police cars standing under the bridge in normal police uniforms. It was raining too. Everyone who passed by gave them dirty looks. A 10-year-old boy was chewing gum and running. The agents told him, “Where are you going? Why are you chewing gum? Why are you running?” Under the bridge there was no taxi car other than a white 206 with a white Peugeot Persia. In other words, it was not an ordinary person’s car and it wasn’t identified as a taxi; so they come and park as a taxi, but it was really a patrol car.
A friend of mine said that his mother was a hospital staff member. They had brought the wounded there but someone like the hospitals guard or something, had forced the staff to call agents. His mother had said that all they wanted to do was to help but the agents wouldn’t permit it. They had been shot; the agents had said there’s nothing you can do for them. My friend was telling me that his mother had said that the morgue was filled with corpses.
A taxi driver said that in Adelabad, the agents had stormed his neighbor’s house and had arrested two brothers under the age of 18. Suddenly, four or five cars came and kicked the door down, taking the older. They striped him naked to see whether he’d been shot with pellets. The younger brother was not home. Their mother is told that we will bring a disaster on your son, call, and tell him to come. She calls him and says come home, I have something to discuss with you. They arrested both and took them.
