Reports: Two protesters tortured to death in Iran prisons

by WorldTribune Staff, January 16, 2018

Two men who took part in the widespread protests in Iran were tortured to death in prison, according to local reports and a rights group.

Saro Ghahremani

Saro Ghahremani, a 24-year-old Kurd, died in Sanandaj prison in Iranian Kurdistan and Ali Poladi, approximately 26, died in Chalus prison in northern Iran, the Kurdish news outlet Rudaw reported on Jan. 14.

“According to Saro’s mother, there have been signs of beatings on his body but officers of the Intelligence Bureau have threatened the family of this victim not to release any information in this regard,” the Kurdistan Human Rights Network tweeted.

The French-based rights group said Ghahremani was buried on Jan. 13 “under strong security measures” with only his parents allowed to attend.

Iranian officials had earlier confirmed that at least two men detained during anti-government protests had died in prison.

The officials reported that Sina Ghanbari, 23, committed suicide on Jan. 7 while detained at Teheran’s Evin Prison.

Vahid Heydari, 22, died in detention at the 12th Police Station in Arak sometime near the first of the year, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) reported. Authorities also claimed that Heydari had committed suicide.

Amnesty International last week called for an investigation into the deaths of as many as five protesters in Iranian prisons.

Some reformists in Iran’s parliament have warned the government against mistreating detainees as was widely reported after the crackdown on protests in 2009.

Iranian judiciary chief Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani, who has been sanctioned by the U.S. for alleged human rights violations, said earlier this month that some of those arrested did not play major roles in the protests but others had instigated violence and attacked public property “in a way that cannot be justified.”

During recent protests in Iran, more than 3,700 persons were detained, reformist lawmaker Mahmoud Sadeghi said last week. Iran’s government put the number at closer to 1,000.

Iran’s judiciary announced on Jan. 14 that 440 detainees had been released, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported.


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