Forensic Report Indicates 'Injection Site and Bruising' on Kavous Seyed Emami's Body

The lawyer for Kavous Seyed Emami's family reported that the initial forensic report noted 'the extent of bruising on various parts of the body' and 'an injection site on the corpse,' but the 'exact cause' of Mr. Seyed Emami's death has not been disclosed. Payam Darvishan, in an interview with the Iran Human Rights Campaign website, stated that on Wednesday, April 29, during a visit to the prosecutor's office with Arash Kikhavari, another lawyer for Seyed Emami's family, they learned that the judge had returned the report to the forensic organization for corrections. According to Mr. Darvishan, the initial forensic report detailed 'the extent of bruising on various parts of the body, the injection site on the corpse, and the state of rigor mortis, which indicates when death occurred.' He mentioned that while the report included this information, it did not specify the 'exact cause' of Mr. Seyed Emami's death, only stating that 'bruising around the neck indicates physical pressure.' Mr. Darvishan noted that the lawyers for Mr. Seyed Emami's family have requested clarification on whether the cause of death was 'asphyxiation, stroke, or drug poisoning.' They also sought to determine if Mr. Seyed Emami's 'will was impaired by medication.' Kavous Seyed Emami was arrested on January 24, 2018, along with several other environmental activists and died in Evin Prison on February 7, 2018. Judicial authorities declared the cause of death to be 'suicide.' Iranian officials have not responded to questions about what circumstances led to his alleged suicide before going to trial and receiving a conviction. In the meantime, Mr. Darvishan has called for clarification on the psychological pressures faced by Mr. Seyed Emami 'that could lead someone in such a social position to take such a direction.' He quoted Mohammad Shahriari, head of the criminal court and judge in the case of Kavous Seyed Emami, stating that several interrogation videos and 'in-person confrontations' of Mr. Seyed Emami with other defendants in the case have been sent to the criminal court. Mr. Darvishan expressed hope that the family's lawyers would be allowed to view these videos and that they would not be told that the case is security-related and cannot be viewed. He also mentioned that during a visit to the Attorney General's office, it was confirmed that Kavous Seyed Emami's wife's name is not on the exit ban list. Mr. Darvishan emphasized that this decision was made 'at a security level, not within the judicial system.' Airport officials prevented Maryam Mambini, Kavous Seyed Emami's wife, from leaving the country on March 7, which prompted a reaction from Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada, who tweeted urging the Iranian government to allow her to leave Iran and return to her family in Canada. Security agencies have previously prevented individuals from leaving the country without judicial orders. In the case of environmental activists, in addition to Kavous Seyed Emami, Hooman Jookar, project manager for the protection of the Asiatic cheetah, Taher Ghadirian, Sam Rajabi, Amirhossein Khalaghi, and Niloufar Bayani, environmental activists, as well as Sepideh Kashani, Hooman Jookar's wife and former advisor to the United Nations Environment Program, were also arrested and remain imprisoned. Meanwhile, Mostafa Torkhamdani, the lawyer for the arrested environmental activists, announced on Twitter on April 28 that his efforts to accept the defense of these activists had failed, and he was withdrawing from their representation. Mr. Torkhamdani reported that two months ago, under the instruction of the supervising prosecutor, he submitted the power of attorney related to the environmental activists to Ward 2A, but this power of attorney has not yet been returned to him 'with or without a signature.' Following the arrest of several environmental activists, Mahmoud Sadeghi, a representative from Tehran in Parliament, reported that Kavous Madani, deputy head of the Environmental Organization, had also been arrested. Subsequently, conflicting reports emerged regarding Mr. Madani's arrest and the access of security agents to his social media accounts. Ultimately, Mr. Madani left Iran and stated in his resignation letter after leaving the country that upon entering Iran, all of his personal hardware and social media accounts were 'plundered' by 'the hardliners' of the Islamic Republic without a judicial order. In recent days, Mohammad Reza Tabesh, head of the Environmental Faction in Parliament, and some university associations have rejected the judiciary's claims about the 'espionage' of imprisoned environmental activists. Mr. Tabesh also stated that the Ministry of Intelligence does not consider the detainees to be spies.