Iran charging families 500mn toman 'bullet fees' to return bodies of protesters: Report

Iranian authorities are reportedly charging 500 million Tomans ($5,000) to return the bodies of those killed in the bloody protests to their families. The New York Post reported, based on a conversation with a local in Tehran, that families are being charged "bullet fees" from loved ones who have lost their family member in the deadly demonstrations that have rocked Iran for two weeks now. The outlet managed to get in touch with a young Iranian woman based in Tehran, who told them that she is constantly hearing news of deaths, and recently learned of a close friend’s cousin. She said his wife saw a green light, likely from a gun laser. To protect her, the man stood in front of her and was shot in the face and was killed. His family was asked to pay 500 million Tomans in return for his body, and even then, the official cause of death was mentioned as “impact of a sharp object to the face”, instead of saying that he was shot.

Despite the brutalities, the woman told The Post that this time it seems like the current regime will be overthrown. She recalled that last Thursday and Friday, the crowds were so huge in Tehran that even the police and the Guard were shocked by the numbers. The police are bombarding the people with tear gas, pepper spray and sound bombs to scare them, yet she says, more Iranians are turning up with their children. The eyewitness added that she saw a pregnant woman in the middle of the protestors. She says that it is not only the young who are protesting, but even older people who have been suffering for decades, are standing with them. On Saturday, anti-terrorist police forces were brought in to suppress the protests, the woman said, adding that innocent people walking and chanting are being shot.

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"This regime is so ruthless and blood thirsty that it is ready to kill everyone," she told The Post. While the official death toll, as per human rights groups, touched 2,000, the woman said she has heard that more than 10,000 people have been killed on the streets. The families of the people killed must pay the “bullet fees” to the government to receive their bodies, she said, calling it the "ultimate cruelty". The woman has personally lost five people she knew, three of whom are her cousin’s friends, and two of them are the sons of her mother’s friends.

Iran is completely cut off from the outer world as the regime imposed an internet shutdown. She says it is "a full blackout here", and she sometimes is able to receive news through a satellite, which is when it works. She says the police are forcefully entering people’s houses and taking the satellites. They are also using drones to identify people, and sending messages telling them to quit the protests or they would be identified as a rioter.