Normalization of 'Death in Custody' by Law Enforcement

Public reaction on social media to the death of Mohammad Mir Mousavi in police custody continues, with the police attempting to reduce the psychological impact of this 'murder' and portray it as a bitter but ordinary event. According to reports, the Islamic Republic's law enforcement claimed in a statement on Friday, September 9, that Mohammad Mir Mousavi had engaged in 'assault' in the village of Naser Kiadeh in Lahijan County, 'abuse' and refusal to obey police orders, and 'conflict' with them. The police claim that Mir Mousavi's death was due to the 'excitement' and 'anger' of the officers. In another statement, the police referred to the incident as a 'death,' indicating an effort to downplay the significance of the issue, and Elias Hazrati, head of the government's information council, also referred to it as 'the death of a suspect in Lahijan' to show that the government is also supporting the police in this narrative. Although the police announced in their second statement the dismissal of the commander of the Naser Kiadeh police station and the suspension of the involved officers, they also attempted to portray Mir Mousavi as the main cause of the incident. Accordingly, this statement emphasized that the deceased had 'multiple records of mischief and conflict' and had previously engaged in a confrontation with the police in 2020, resulting in a nine-month prison sentence. Ali Mojtahedzadeh, a lawyer, reacted to this incident and the police statements in today's edition of Etemad newspaper, stating: 'The essence of the matter is that we must accept that unfortunately, in some parts of the Iranian police, the frequency of non-organizational illegal behaviors is higher than usual.' Mojtahedzadeh emphasized that reducing the issue to the actions of a few officers and ignoring its structural backgrounds could be a 'fatal mistake.' According to this lawyer, generally, oversight bodies lack the necessary sensitivity to monitor the public behavior of state institutions and their officers, and there is insufficient effort to pursue legal violations when they become apparent. The police have not published any evidence for any of their claims, merely issuing statements and attempting to reduce the issue to personnel behavior, an approach that Mojtahedzadeh noted would not solve the problem. The Hengaw human rights organization reported on Wednesday, September 7, that Mohammad Mir Mousavi, from Lahijan County in Gilan Province, was killed under torture in one of the police stations in Langeroud after being arrested by the special forces of the Islamic Republic's law enforcement. According to this report, Mohammad Mir Mousavi was arrested during a dispute on Saturday, September 3. Hengaw pointed out that images released of the young man's body indicate that he had 'sustained severe beatings and suffered from bleeding.' Initially, the police referred to the death of Mohammad Mir Mousavi as an 'accidental death,' but later stated that by order of Radwan, the commander of this force, 'the commander of the police station was dismissed, and other involved officers were suspended from service, placed at the disposal of the judiciary, and if negligence and lack of attention from other police managers is confirmed, appropriate disciplinary actions will be implemented.' However, on Friday, September 9, the police claimed that the torture and death of Mohammad Mir Mousavi were due to the 'excitement' and 'anger' of the officers. Many reports have been published regarding the mistreatment and torture of detainees in the Islamic Republic's detention centers, but Iranian officials deny the torture of detainees. Activists and human rights organizations have repeatedly criticized the mistreatment and torture of detainees, and international organizations have called for an end to these practices. The police's claim regarding the torture and death of Mohammad Mir Mousavi: was due to the 'excitement' and 'anger' of the officers. The death of a young man in the custody of the Gilan police; the judiciary states that temporary detention orders have been issued for five officers.