Shiwar News – Tuesday, 20 October 2026
Several former political prisoners and individuals close to Molavi Abdolhamid, the Friday prayer leader of Zahedan, have been summoned to police stations in their residential areas, four years after Bloody Friday in Zahedan and the arrests connected to the protests at that time.
According to information received by Shiwar News, the summonses were issued to collect personal information and place individuals under surveillance as part of a scheme known as “Monitoring Special Offenders”.
One former political prisoner, who was summoned to a police station in late Shahrivar (September), said he received a text message stating:
“Dear citizen, please visit Police Station … to follow up on your case.”
The message also included the name “Crime Prevention Police of the Balochistan Provincial Police Command”.
Describing his visit to the police station, the former prisoner said that an officer informed him that a new scheme had recently been introduced to monitor former prisoners.
According to him, officers collected and recorded personal information, including his residential address, telephone number, occupation, aliases and other identifying details.
Expressing concern about the scheme, the former political prisoner said:
“What I found troubling was why, almost three years after my release, they are now talking about monitoring and supervising me. If I was really a dangerous criminal, why did they not take action before?”
These summonses come several years after Bloody Friday in Zahedan, the widespread suppression of protesters and the arrests of citizens during the protests of that period.
Placing former political prisoners and individuals close to Molavi Abdolhamid under a scheme described as “Monitoring Dangerous Offenders” raises serious questions about the legal basis of the measure, the criteria used to identify those subject to it and the limits of police authority to monitor their private lives.
At the time of this report, no official or independently verified information was available about the scope of the scheme, the number of people summoned, the authority responsible for the decision or the legal documents supporting such surveillance.
Given the history of arrests and security measures against protesters and individuals close to Molavi Abdolhamid following Bloody Friday in Zahedan, concerns have been raised that this scheme could become another tool for continuing security pressure, monitoring citizens' activities and preventing possible future protests in Zahedan.