Ali Fazli

Ali Fazli (Persian: علی فاضلی; also written Fazeli) was a man in his late thirties from Amol in Mazandaran province; a Mazandaran deputy governor gave his birth year as 1363 (1984/1985). Friends told BBC Persian that he had taken part in the recent protests and had posted Instagram stories in support of the protesters.

On the evening of 5 Aban 1401 (27 October 2022), during the Woman, Life, Freedom protests, he was shot on Aftab 3 Street in Amol. A friend told BBC Persian: "They shot Ali on Aftab 3 Street, when he was alone." He later died of his wounds. That same evening Hadi Chaksari, a young man born in 1371 who worked at a cafe on Imam Khomeini Street, was shot in front of a bank while returning from a pharmacy. Ruhollah Solgi, the deputy governor of Mazandaran, said on the IRGC-affiliated Ofogh TV programme Jahan Ara that night that both men were shot from behind with a handgun ten minutes apart. A clipped video released by the state news agency IRNA showed the shooting of Hadi, but no footage of Ali appears in the videos released by outlets close to the security bodies.

State media and officials presented Ali and Hadi as Basij members and victims of a terrorist operation, promised harsh revenge and published martyrdom posters. They were buried on a Friday in the martyrs section of Amol cemetery in front of state television cameras. Hours after the shooting, the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency published a video interview in which his father said his son had been killed while returning from the gym. Relatives and friends speaking to BBC Persian rejected the Basij claim. In a video obtained by BBC, his brother stands beside his body at 17 Shahrivar Hospital in Amol chanting against officials and says the two of them had been in touch half an hour before the shooting and had planned to spend the evening together. A family friend said Ali's sister and brother were held for long hours in a session of the provincial security council until they could no longer resist the Basij narrative.

HRANA's report on the first 82 days of the protests lists Ali Fazeli, Amol, 27 October 2022, among security force casualties (affiliation Basij), citing Tasnim; that entry reflects the official claim, which his relatives and friends deny. Trust here follows the family and friend accounts rather than regime outlets.