Anti-government blogger Sattar Beheshti died in custody, other prisoners signed letter saying he had been tortured
In a rare move, Iran's deputy parliament speaker said on Sunday that a parliamentary inquiry committee had been established to investigate the death in custody of anti-government blogger Sattar Beheshti.
Iran's cyber-police arrested the 35-year-old blogger on October 30 after he wrote a blog post saying that he had been threatened by the security services. Iranian opposition groups said that police raided Beheshti's home and seized his personal belongings including a computer.
On November 7, the authorities told Beheshti's family to collect his body. According to the BBC's Persian service, the security forces refused to allow anyone other than Beheshti's brother in law to attend his funeral on Thursday.
The Iranian Student's News Agency (ISNA) quoted Mohammad Hassan Abutorabi-Fard as saying that parliament's Committee on Foreign Policy and National Security would look into Beheshti's death.
Abutorabi-Fard said he had asked the committee's chairman, Alaeddin Boroujerdi "to investigate" the issue.
The ISNA report, Iran's first reaction to the death of Beheshti, whom opposition groups say died in custody after being tortured, came after MP Ahmad Tavakkoli, a conservative representative of Tehran in Iran's parliament and a prominent critic of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, called on officials to investigate the case on Sunday, in comments that were broadcast on state media.
"A death has occurred, and it must be explained," Tavakkoli said, calling on the judiciary to act.
Tavakkoli's remarks come after a flood of international publicity about Beheshti's case, including condemnation from several Western governments and human rights groups.
The US State Department called for an investigatation, as have France and Britain.
On Saturday, Iranian opposition news site Kaleme posted a letter signed by 41 political prisoners in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison, who testified that they had seen signs of torture on Beheshti's body.
"When arriving at Evins ward 350, evidence of torture was apparent throughout Sattars body and he was in a painful physical and psychological state. His face was scarred, his head was swollen, his wrists and arms were bruised and the effects of hanging from the ceiling were apparent on his wrists. Bruises were also apparent on other parts of his body such as around his neck, his stomach and his back," the letter says.
The letter adds that even though Beheshti was barely able to write as a result of his beatings, he managed to file a short complaint. Beheshti was later transferred to the prison infirmary, the letter claims, and on November 1 police took him to the security service headquarters.
"He was extremely concerned when leaving the ward and told other detainees: They intend to kill me. Four days after his transfer, his family was informed of his death," the political prisoners testified in their letter.
Iranian parliament to probe blog... JPost - Iranian Threat - News
Shame on you Iran.
In a rare move, Iran's deputy parliament speaker said on Sunday that a parliamentary inquiry committee had been established to investigate the death in custody of anti-government blogger Sattar Beheshti.
Iran's cyber-police arrested the 35-year-old blogger on October 30 after he wrote a blog post saying that he had been threatened by the security services. Iranian opposition groups said that police raided Beheshti's home and seized his personal belongings including a computer.
On November 7, the authorities told Beheshti's family to collect his body. According to the BBC's Persian service, the security forces refused to allow anyone other than Beheshti's brother in law to attend his funeral on Thursday.
The Iranian Student's News Agency (ISNA) quoted Mohammad Hassan Abutorabi-Fard as saying that parliament's Committee on Foreign Policy and National Security would look into Beheshti's death.
Abutorabi-Fard said he had asked the committee's chairman, Alaeddin Boroujerdi "to investigate" the issue.
The ISNA report, Iran's first reaction to the death of Beheshti, whom opposition groups say died in custody after being tortured, came after MP Ahmad Tavakkoli, a conservative representative of Tehran in Iran's parliament and a prominent critic of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, called on officials to investigate the case on Sunday, in comments that were broadcast on state media.
"A death has occurred, and it must be explained," Tavakkoli said, calling on the judiciary to act.
Tavakkoli's remarks come after a flood of international publicity about Beheshti's case, including condemnation from several Western governments and human rights groups.
The US State Department called for an investigatation, as have France and Britain.
On Saturday, Iranian opposition news site Kaleme posted a letter signed by 41 political prisoners in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison, who testified that they had seen signs of torture on Beheshti's body.
"When arriving at Evins ward 350, evidence of torture was apparent throughout Sattars body and he was in a painful physical and psychological state. His face was scarred, his head was swollen, his wrists and arms were bruised and the effects of hanging from the ceiling were apparent on his wrists. Bruises were also apparent on other parts of his body such as around his neck, his stomach and his back," the letter says.
The letter adds that even though Beheshti was barely able to write as a result of his beatings, he managed to file a short complaint. Beheshti was later transferred to the prison infirmary, the letter claims, and on November 1 police took him to the security service headquarters.
"He was extremely concerned when leaving the ward and told other detainees: They intend to kill me. Four days after his transfer, his family was informed of his death," the political prisoners testified in their letter.
Iranian parliament to probe blog... JPost - Iranian Threat - News
Shame on you Iran.
Consider the source, and take it with a truckload of salt.
