NCRI – At 20:00 local time on Thursday, January 28, 2010, a large number of pilgrims gathered inside and outside the Massoumeh shrine in the holy city of Qom and held protests with chants of “death to dictator” on the fortieth day after the death of Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri. The protests came amid the hanging of two political prisoners by the regime and the sentencing of 11 more on charges of “moharebeh” (waging war against God).
The demonstration took place even as in recent days the regime’s suppressive forces established a visible presence across the city of Qom and carried out suppressive exercises to bolster the atmosphere of intimidation and fear in an attempt to prevent the formation of anti-regime protests. The regime’s intelligence agents and State Security Forces had surrounded Mr. Montazeri’s residence since the morning and prevented people from entering or leaving the place. A number of regime elements in the premises chanted “death to hypocrites” (the regime’s pejorative word in reference to the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran – PMOI/MEK).
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
January 29, 2010