It’s been a month since Sunday’s death Mahza Amini Morality police custody sparked nationwide protests, strikes and violent crackdowns by Iran’s security forces, led mainly by women.
Amini, 22, from Iran’s Kurdistan region, died in custody in Tehran last month after being accused of failing to fully cover her hair and violating the country’s strict dress code. Three days later, she died.
Police said Amini fell ill and fell into a coma and diedBut his family has said witnesses said he was beaten by officers, and has complained about the way his death was investigated.
A Coroner’s report In a release this month by the Iranian Legal Medicine Organization, which describes itself as independent but is part of the country’s judiciary, Amini said he died of multiple organ failure caused by an underlying disease.
The protests following his death have posed the most serious challenges to the Iranian government since the 1979 revolution, with some chanting slogans against the Supreme Leader. Ayatollah Ali KhameneiAnd the President Ibrahim Raisi.
At least 60 people have died since the protests began, state media reported. Human rights organizations believe the number could be much higher.
The government blamed “foreign enemies” for fueling the unrest.
A State Department spokesman said late Saturday that the United States was “closely monitoring the situation at Iran’s Evin prison and the danger it poses to many of its inmates.”
Our priority is the safety of US citizens wrongfully detained in Iran. Their safety and rights must be ensured,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
In 2018 the Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Evin prison for “serious human rights abuses”. Detainees held at Evin Prison are subject to “brutal tactics by prison officials, including sexual assaults, physical assaults and electric shocks,” according to the Treasury Department website.
A lawyer representing an American-Iranian held in Evin. Siamese prayerNamasi, who spent nearly seven years in prison on espionage-related charges that the White House dismissed as baseless, said Sunday that he had contacted his relatives.
“Happy to announce that #SiamakNamazi has now spoken to his family. As he is safe, Evin has been transferred to a secure part of the prison. We do not have any additional details at this time,” Jared Zenzer said on Twitter.
Many dual-national Iranians and foreign nationals are held in Evin prison. The facility has long been known to hold political prisoners and those with ties to the West.
Portland, Oregon, during a presidential campaign trip Joe Biden Addressing the unrest in Iran, he said he was surprised by the “courage of the people and women” in the recent protests and had great respect for them. “It was really amazing,” he said.
Don de Luz And Abigail Williams Contributed.
