Kavous Seyed Emami's Son: They Did Not Allow Us to Hold a Memorial for My Father

The son of Kavous Seyed Emami, a university professor and environmental activist who passed away in security forces' custody last week, reported that the memorial service for his father was canceled by the mosque where it was supposed to take place. Ramin Seyed Emami announced this on his personal Twitter account, stating that 'the mosque called and said that the memorial for my father cannot be held there tomorrow.' Mr. Seyed Emami did not provide further details about the conversation or the reasons for the mosque management's or security agencies' opposition to holding the ceremony. On February 10, it was announced that Kavous Seyed Emami, a professor at Imam Sadiq University and CEO of the 'Persian Wildlife Heritage' institute, who held dual Iranian-Canadian citizenship, died in prison two weeks after his arrest. The news of Mr. Seyed Emami's death was published on social media by his son's account. According to this news, Mr. Seyed Emami was arrested on January 24 and was reported to have died on February 8 under the title of 'suicide' to his wife. The body of this environmental activist was buried on February 13 in the Imamzadeh cemetery located 40 kilometers from Tehran. While Payam Darvishan, the lawyer for the Seyed Emami family, told Radio Farda that the forensic medicine has not yet announced the cause of death despite the autopsy, Aladdin Boroujerdi, head of the National Security Commission of the Parliament, claims that the Seyed Emami family has accepted this incident and did not request an autopsy. The death of Mr. Seyed Emami is not the only case of detainee deaths in recent months, as human rights activists reported the deaths of three to five detainees during the nationwide protests in January. In this regard, judicial officials have only confirmed the deaths of two detainees but claim that both cases were 'suicides.' The Canadian government also requested an explanation from Iran regarding the circumstances of Mr. Seyed Emami's death in prison. Omar Alghabra, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, stated that the Canadian government is concerned about the circumstances of Mr. Seyed Emami's death and has requested clarification from Iranian officials, following up on this matter through its embassy in Turkey. In addition to Seyed Emami, other members of the Persian Wildlife Heritage institute, including Morad Tahbaz, a board member, Hooman Jokar, the treasurer and manager of the Asiatic cheetah project, and Sepideh Kashani, his wife who was an expert at the institute, as well as Niloofar Bayani, another expert, and Sam Rajabi and Taher Ghaderian, colleagues and experts at the institute, have also been detained. Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi, concurrent with the arrest of these individuals, announced the arrest of several suspects related to a 'spy case in the environmental sector.' While there were earlier reports of the arrest of Kaveh Madani, the deputy head of the Environmental Organization, Eisa Kalantari, the head of this organization, denied this news and reports of questioning his deputy. In this context, the Iranian judiciary is accused of murder unless proven otherwise. Canada has requested an explanation from Iran regarding Seyed Emami's death. The Tehran prosecutor has raised many charges against the detained environmental activists. Amnesty International claims that evidence of Seyed Emami's potential murder is being concealed. Human Rights Watch states that independent investigations into the suspicious deaths of prisoners in Iran are essential. Boroujerdi claims that the Seyed Emami family has accepted his suicide and did not request an autopsy. Discussions with the Seyed Emami family's lawyer regarding the latest status of his case continue. Reactions to Seyed Emami's death in prison; Mohseni Ejei stated that the issue of suicide is under investigation. The Human Rights Campaign has called for international investigations into the suspicious deaths of prisoners in Iran. Kavous Seyed Emami, a university professor, 'died in prison two weeks after his arrest.'