Four Arrested in Esfarayen on Charges of 'Spreading Falsehoods Against Police'

Four individuals in the city of Esfarayen, North Khorasan Province, were arrested on charges of spreading 'falsehoods' regarding a police car accident involving a group of pedestrians. According to IRNA news agency, citing Javid Mehri, the police chief of Esfarayen County, these individuals were arrested in connection with the accident that occurred last Thursday evening, where a police vehicle collided with three pedestrians, resulting in one death and two injuries. Mehri stated that during a police chase involving a Peugeot 405, the police car hit the three pedestrians. He added that those who 'caused the spread of falsehoods on social media and incited others to damage the police vehicle' were identified and arrested by the police. These individuals have been referred to judicial authorities for 'legal' proceedings. The police chief also mentioned that the cause of the incident was 'loss of control and imbalance of the vehicle due to high speed.' Mehri further noted that the driver of the fleeing Peugeot 405, who was 'creating terror with a knife and machete,' has also been identified, and efforts to apprehend him have begun. The incident has been accompanied by numerous rumors in Esfarayen, provoking significant reactions among some residents on social media. The Islamic Republic of Iran's police is considered one of the most error-prone police forces globally, with a reported debt of about six billion tomans in 2008 for compensation to victims due to police errors. Mehdi Mohammadi Far, the then Deputy for Legal and Parliamentary Affairs of the police, stated that this compensation was due to 'errors' by police officers. He mentioned that 400 police officers had been convicted for shooting errors, and the annual budget for police compensation was around 800 million tomans. This debt increased to 12 billion tomans in 2009, and at that time, a police official stated that 'the law on the use of weapons and the principle of shooting must be taught to the personnel of the police.' A significant number of police officers are tried or dismissed each year due to shooting errors or violent encounters. In 2014, Ibrahim Mehranfar, head of the Judicial Organization of the Armed Forces in Isfahan Province, reported that the police were ordered to pay 60 billion rials in compensation to 128 injured farmers during the unrest in eastern Isfahan in 2011.