Ambiguous Death of a Citizen in Custody of the Police in Malekan County

According to a human rights organization, a citizen died in the hospital after three weeks of detention at the Malekan County police department in East Azerbaijan Province, with signs of injury on his body. As reported by HRANA, the media organ of human rights activists in Iran, on Wednesday, November 30, Ghafar Akbari, the detained citizen, died in Sina Hospital in Malekan County after three weeks in custody. Based on images published on HRANA's website, "bruises and injuries on the soles of Ghafar Akbari's feet" are visible. This human rights organization stated that the presence of injuries and bruises "strengthens speculations about the possibility of his torture in detention or prison," and according to "some local sources," he was "tied to a flagpole in the detention yard for 48 hours in wet clothes without food and water." According to the report, officials "hung Ghafar Akbari by his feet for hours and pulled out his toenails to force him to confess." Ghafar Akbari, 48, a father of four from the village of Yulqonlu in Malekan County, was arrested three weeks ago along with several others in connection with a "murder" case of a villager that dates back to about "a year and a half ago." The report emphasizes that Mr. Akbari was "denied access to a lawyer during his detention." The "ambiguous death" of Ghafar Akbari, despite the "bruises and injuries on the soles of his feet," occurred on Saturday, November 26, and according to an informed source from HRANA, the burial took place "under heavy security measures and without sufficient notification." According to this report, Mr. Akbari's family gathered in front of the Malekan prosecutor's office on Sunday, November 27, the day after his death in custody, but "this gathering was quickly suppressed by security forces." An informed source from HRANA stated that "pressure on the Akbari family to remain silent continues, and any information dissemination by them is met with threats." According to HRANA, "no official and clear explanation has been provided by the authorities regarding the cause of death," and the existing documentation currently includes images of this citizen's bruised and injured feet and statements from local sources. Voice of America is currently unable to independently verify the details of this report. However, the deaths of citizens in custody of government agencies in Iran have a history. One of the most famous cases is that of Sattar Beheshti, a blogger who died in November 2012 in custody of the cyber police due to internal bleeding caused by torture. Additionally, the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police in September 2022 sparked months of nationwide protests in Iran.