Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Tribunal has sentenced Behzad Soleimanpur and Vahid Faezpur to 50 lashings and 50 million Rial ($2500) fine.
The two South Azerbaijani activists were arrested by security forces in the city of Urmia on August 28th 2012, a day after the public demonstrations held in the city of Urmia to save the Lake Urmia. They were released on a 1, 50 Billion Rial bail after 8 days of captivity. There have been frequent public protests to bring the Lake Urmia crisis to the authorities’ attention in many cities of South Azerbaijan including Urmia, Sulduz( Naghadeh), Sovuqbulaq (Mahabad) Tabriz, Khoy, Slamas, etc.The government has been aggressively oppressive against the peaceful demonstrations of South Azerbaijani environmentalists.
Behzad Soleimanpur and Vahid Faezpur, pictured above, are known to the Iranian spy agency Ettelaat as the two were subjected to many arbitrary detentions due to their role in protests demanding cultural rights of South Azerbaijani Turks.
The Lake Urmia, once the largest salt lake of the world, is condensed to 20 per cent of its magnitude within the last decade. Many believe that Iranian government has been deliberately shrinking the Lake Urmia to easily utilize the lake’s salt in its uranium enrichment programs. Experts have warned that the lake Urmia’s eradication will cause salt tsunamis which will extinguish the environment and subsequently, force millions of native Azerbaijanis to evict their native land.
