As the news still continues to come out of Iran the government is trying everything it can, short of pulling the country’s Internet plug, of silencing the people. Part of that silencing unfortunately also includes people being killed. It would seem though that the Iranian forces are deciding that this could be a good time to earn some extra cash. For one Iranian family this blackmail meant having to pay a $3,000 ‘bullet fee’ – the fee charged by the Iranian forces for the bullet used to kill their son – before they could claim their son’s body.
In a post that appears on the Wall Street Journal today Farnaz Fassihi relates the story of the Alipour family and how the elder Mr. Alipour had to plead with morgue officials to have his son’s body return.
Mr. Alipour told officials that his entire possessions wouldn’t amount to $3,000, arguing they should waive the fee because he is a veteran of the Iran-Iraq war. According to relatives, morgue officials finally agreed, but demanded that the family do no funeral or burial in Tehran. Kaveh Alipour’s body was quietly transported to the city of Rasht, where there is family.
Yup an enlightened society.