Questions Linger about Iranian Blogger's Death
November 09, 2012
by VOA News
France and Britain are calling on Iran to explain the death in detention of an anti-government blogger who opposition activists say had been tortured.
Activists say Sattar Beheshti, 35, was arrested in his home in late October, and that his family was asked on Wednesday to pick up his body from a detention center in Tehran.
In his last posting before being arrested, Beheshti wrote that security services had threatened him -- saying his mother "would soon be wearing black" if he continued speaking out.
Officials in France and Britain said they were shocked by reports of Beheshti's death. The British Foreign Office said it appeared to be another attempt to crush any form of free expression in Iran.
Iranian officials have not commented on his detention or cause of death. Beheshti's sister, Fatima, told Voice of America's Persian News Network that her brother did not have any history of illnesses.
Mansour Haghighatpour, a member of parliament and deputy head of the national security commission told the Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA) that there was no need for his commission to get involved and that he is certain that those responsible will address the matter.
Human rights groups Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders are also calling on Iran to release details of his death.
“Beheshti’s death is certainly due to his circumstances in prison and once again the culture of rampant impunity inside prisons has claimed the life of another innocent victim, said Hadi Ghaemi spokesman for the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran in a statement. "It is highly probable he died of injuries sustained due to torture under interrogations.”
The Beheshti case recalls the 2003 case of Iranian-Canadian photographer Zahra Kazemi who was arrested and later died while in custody.The case was widely reported around the world.
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