Mr. Abbas Lesani, the South Azerbaijani civil rights activist has continued his peaceful civil struggle against supremacy of Farsi language in South Azerbaijan.

On March 10, 2019 he was taken to the Prosecution Office of Ardabil Province for questioning about the new charges staged against him due to his speech at the funeral of an Azerbaijani musician, Hasan Damirchi.

He was handcuffed and leg-cuffed during his transfer to the Prosecutor’s Office. At the Prosecutor’s Office Mr. Lesani refused to speak Farsi and made his written submissions in Azerbaijani Turkic denying the supremacy of Farsi language in South Azerbaijan and denied all the bogus charges brought against him by the Ettelaat.

The Intelligence Services of Iran aka Ettelaat has charged him with “Establishing an illegal group, attempt to destabilize the peace by inciting violence and encouraging Turks of west regions of South Azerbaijan to acquire arms to defend against possible Kurdish expansions”

He was arrested on January 15, 2019 in Tabriz and transferred to Ardabil Prison where was held incommunicado for almost a month.

The regime of Iran has also been threatening Mr. Lesani’s family and warned his son, Ali Lesani that his business would be shut down due to his suspicious activities.