Arrest of Baloch Civil Activist Samad Rigi by Intelligence Forces in Iranshahr
According to the Balochistan Human Rights Group, on Tuesday, October 7, 2025, plainclothes security forces affiliated with the Intelligence Department in Iranshahr arrested a Baloch social and civil activist named Samad Rigi at his workplace in a bank. After the arrest, the security forces took him to his home and, without presenting any judicial warrant, searched the residence, confiscated personal belongings of family members, including their mobile phones, and transferred the detained activist to the Iranshahr Intelligence Department.
Samad Rigi, a resident of Iranshahr, was previously arrested on February 5, 2022, after being summoned to court in Zahedan for posting critical content about the security situation in Iranshahr. He was sentenced to three years in prison and released from Zahedan prison last year. According to sources, Rigi recently exposed cases of “rape of several children” in Iranshahr and criticized the provincial and local forensic authorities for their failure to address these incidents. He had called for judicial intervention to arrest and punish the perpetrators. Details of the “rape” case, including the time of occurrence, number of victims, and identities of the perpetrators, remain unavailable.
As of the time of this report, the charges and reasons for Rigi’s arrest are unknown, and he has had no contact with his family or relatives for over six hours. This arrest occurs amid a pattern where security institutions, instead of addressing social issues such as rape, suppress Baloch civil and social activists through threats, arrests, and creating an atmosphere of fear to deter them from advocacy and protest.
