Member of Parliament Confirms Death of Taleb Basati in Prison

Following the release of unverified news about the death of another prisoner due to the protests in December in Iran, a representative from Ilam in the Islamic Consultative Assembly confirmed the news on Wednesday, March 14. According to the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA), citing Jalal Mirzaei, the Ilam representative, this young prisoner named Taleb Basati "was arrested after the unrest and died of a stroke in prison." Earlier, on March 11, the BBC reported, citing an "informed source," that the cause of Taleb Basati's death was "traumatic brain injury" resulting from a blow to the head and skull. According to this informed source, the term "traumatic brain injury" was mentioned in Mr. Basati's death certificate. According to the Ilam representative, "Taleb Basati was an emergency worker in the city of Malekshahi and was arrested after the unrest." This official claimed, without explanation or details, that Mr. Basati "apparently had connections abroad." A new wave of widespread protests in the country began in the first week of December in the city of Mashhad with slogans about the poor economic conditions of the people, but it quickly took on a political form, including slogans such as "Death to Khamenei." The response of the security and law enforcement forces of the Islamic Republic to these protests left more than 20 dead and thousands arrested. However, the issue of the deaths of some of these protesters in prison, which were declared as "suicides," has drawn significant public attention. Thus, with the confirmation of the news about Taleb Basati by the parliamentary representative, his name is added to the list of prisoners who have died in Iranian prisons since December. In this context, four human rights organizations had previously stated that at least five cases of death during detention had occurred since December: Sina Ghanbari, Vahid Heydari, and Kavous Seyed-Emami are among these five individuals who, according to the claims of the judicial authorities of the Islamic Republic, committed suicide. Saro Ghahramani and Mohammad Raji are two other individuals mentioned in the statements of these organizations. Kurdish media, including Kurdistan Media, had previously reported that Taleb Basati died in "the detention center of the Ilam Intelligence Department due to the severity of injuries sustained from torture." According to these reports, his family has been under severe pressure from security forces, and his body was buried on March 7 "under heavy security measures." He was arrested on charges of "having connections with opposition Kurdish groups" and "filming protests against the government" in December in Ilam.