Iran’s anti-smuggling department opened fire on a civilian vehicle and killed a Kurdish civilian named Farhad Zandi on the Sanandaj-Dehgolan highway in Kurdistan province on 7 November.
Confirming the news, a relative of the civilian told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN): “At 18:00 yesterday [7 November], a special patrol of the Anti-Smuggling Office of the Law Enforcement Forces [of the Islamic Republic of Iran] opened fire on Farhad Zandi’s car near Qeru Chay village of Dehgolan though he had no [smuggled] goods [in the car]. They shot him in the head and killed him on the spot.”
The source added that Zandi’s body was buried in the cemetery of Sanandaj at 05:00 on 8 November, under the pressure of and with the large presence of the law enforcement forces.
The police also threatened and put pressure on the family of the killed Kurdish civilian not to inform the media about the murder.
Zandi, from Sanandaj, was 38-years-old and the father of a 15-year-old.
According to the research by the KHRN, each year, the Anti-Smuggling Office of the Law Enforcement Forces kill several Kurdish civilians not carrying any “smuggled goods” on intercity roads.
The follow-ups by the families of these victims for the prosecution of perpetrators in the military court has remained ineffective.
