Member of Parliament Reports on 'Case Fabrication' Against Lawyer Related to Deceased Protester from Arak

Mahmoud Sadeghi, a representative from Tehran in the Parliament, accused security agencies of 'fabricating a case' against a lawyer who, according to Sadeghi, has 'proven' that Vahid Heydari, a teenager who died in the Arak police detention center, was not a 'drug dealer.' This member of Parliament published this issue on his personal Twitter page on Thursday (January 25). Vahid Heydari was a young man who was arrested in Arak following recent protests in various cities across Iran, and after some time, his corpse was handed over to his family. Islamic Republic officials confirmed his death and that of two other young men in prison but declared the cause as 'suicide.' Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the spokesperson for the judiciary, without naming Heydari, stated: 'This individual was an addict and had some drugs with him, and a case has been opened in the Arak judiciary that is currently being pursued.' Meanwhile, Mahmoud Sadeghi tweeted on Thursday that 'one of the honorable lawyers of the judiciary, through local investigations in the village where the teenager who died in the Arak police station lived, has proven that no one knows him as a drug dealer.' According to this representative, for this reason, 'security agencies have fabricated a case against him and want to pressure him to confess that he played a role in forming protest groups.' Sadeghi did not name this lawyer, but on January 15 of this year, the Iran Human Rights Campaign announced that Mohammad Najafi, a lawyer in Shazand Arak who was pursuing the case of Vahid Heydari, one of the victims in the Arak police detention center, was arrested by security forces in front of his home. According to this report, Mr. Najafi has a history of several summons and arrests due to his activities, including facing charges of propaganda against the regime on November 8. The Iran Human Rights Campaign also reported, citing relatives of Vahid Heydari, that when his body was viewed, signs of beating and bruising were seen on his head. Ali Bagheri, a civil activist in Shazand Arak, who has spoken closely with the relatives of Vahid Heydari, told Radio Farda that his family has been 'threatened.' In addition to Heydari, another young man named Sina Ghanbari also died in the Evin detention center, about whom Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei stated: 'Another individual in Evin prison, among the recent detainees, committed suicide in the restroom according to the footage and images taken. This individual was an addict and around 21 years old and was not a student.' These statements from the judicial official come at a time when more than 40 representatives have requested investigations into the claims of 'suicide' of these two individuals in a letter to Ali Larijani, the Speaker of Parliament. In the letter from the members of Parliament, a copy of which was published by Mahmoud Sadeghi, it is stated that the claim of suicide by these individuals has been questioned by their families and eyewitnesses. In addition to these two, the body of Saro Ghahramani, another detained protester in recent events, has been handed over to his family in the city of Sanandaj. It has also been previously reported that another individual named Mohsen Adeli also lost his life in Dezful prison. However, judicial officials have denied the deaths of the third and fourth individuals in prison and claim that 25 people were killed in the streets following recent street protests. Mahmoud Sadeghi also announced the number of detainees from recent protests and gatherings as 3,700 individuals. This representative confirmed the news of Sina Ghanbari's death in Evin prison and also warned of a repeat of 'Kahrizak II.' Mohsen Rouhalamini and many other protesters against the results of the 2009 presidential election were transferred to Kahrizak detention center, which, according to reports, had very poor conditions. According to official reports from the Islamic Republic, at least two other individuals named Amir Javadi-Far and Mohammad Kamrani were killed in this detention center besides Mohsen Rouhalamini. Following reports of several 'suicides' in Iranian prisons, Amnesty International on Tuesday, January 9, called for 'immediate investigations' into this matter. On the other hand, Nasrin Sotoudeh, a human rights lawyer, also reported in an interview with Radio Farda based on her information about 'three deaths' in the quarantine of Evin prison, stating that according to her, 'officials' have declared the cause of their deaths as 'suicide.' In this context, a new report from the Committee for Following Arrests called for an investigation into the 'severe beatings' in prisons and the 'suicides' of prisoners in Iranian prisons.