Security forces surrounded the house of Dr. Ali Betha, a member of the former parliament, with six cars of the security, and searched the house and arrested his son Muhammad Ali Betha.
Mass demonstrations in the city of Nawa took place on Friday and were dispersed by the security forces who opened fire. Saturday was apparently calm, but security forces and the army kept on applying the grip on the livelihoods of the people and their daily lives significantly.
Since the city was besieged, nobody was allowed to leave the city on a motorcycle without approval from the commander of operations, General Noman Ali. All those who want to acquire or drive a motorcycle need permission from the municipality and the officer, and permission is a paper issued by the Dean himself with municipal seal.
Operating a motorcycle requires holding that permit and identification card while they ask for no driver’s license or registration papers. Driving the motorcycle outside city limits has also been restricted. Motorcycle service shops have been turned by owners into bicycle service shops due to marked drop in the number of permits issued by the brigadier general.
Villagers have not been able to harvest wheat and orchards but within a restricted times (after 4:30AM til 10:00PM). Althought this may seem like a long time passing checkpoints within and outside city limit to reach the fields consumes most of it. A farmer who wants to harvest his crop needs a permit from the officer, the municipality and the Farmers’ Union and present it to the gas station of the city to secure the fuel. Diesel fuel is not always available and a farmer should be able to reserve the harverster at the same time fuel is available.
Security forces burned 40 donum (40,000 sq meter) of wheat crop last week at the Nawa- Sheikh Miskeen raod.
Regarding the burial of the martyr:
To bury the dead in the city requires a permit for burial, and some times also for inspection. Security forces are not allowing the call to the martyrs in the mosques as it is usual in the city. Most mosques of the city has been closed, so the villagers face large difficulties in finding a mosque where they pray to the martyrs.
The security forces force people to bury their martyrs in the tomb of Imam al-Nawawi and the Sam cemetery, although the cemeteries have been run-down and have not been used by the inhabitants since more than 15 years. Thus, the cemeteries known right now in the city are the ones of Harfouch and of Imam al-Nawawi, which is outside the city but close to the major 112.
After all of this, everybody who wants to attend the funeral, needs a permit where he has to write down the name of his father. Who is under the age of forty, is not at all allowed to take part in the funeral, and the villagers are also being prevented from building up tents to receive the visits of condolence.