A 23-year-old student protester arrested and taken into custody during the ongoing anti-Iranian regime protests died in the country’s notorious Evin Prison on Sunday, according to the Islamic Republic’s state-run media.
A protester has died of “unknown causes” in Evin Prison’s quarantine unit in Tehran on January 6, 2018, according the the Iranian Committee for the Detained in Nationwide Protests. Sina Ghanbari was 23 years old.#IranProtests2018 #IranProtests #IranProtest pic.twitter.com/Gc83WZFe0G
— IranHumanRights.org (@ICHRI) January 8, 2018
#SinaGhanbari, one of the protesters arrested during #IranProtests demonstrations, has died in #Evin Prison. Source: Iranian Committee for the Detained in Nationwide Protests, January 6, 2018. pic.twitter.com/yHvz86V30a
— United for Iran (@united4iran) January 8, 2018
Sina Ghanbari, 23, reportedly died after he was detained by security forces. Authorities claim he committed suicide.
His death has raised questions about the fate of other prisoners. Iranian authorities have warned that “there will be consequences” for protesters who are arrested:
Iranian authorities have warned families/friends of some of the ppl who were arrested during the #IranProtests that if they share names of the arrestees w/ the media, "there will be consequences" for those who are arrested, they told @BBCPersian. via @nikimahjoub
— Hadi Nili (@HadiNili) January 7, 2018
“On the morning of Saturday, January 6, one of the prisoners, Sina Ghanbari, son of Ali Akbar, visited the lavatory of the quarantine section and hanged himself,” Mostafa Mohebi told Iran’s semiofficial ISNA news agency.
According to CNN, “An Iranian member of Parliament, Tayyebeh Siavashi, said she was informed by security officials that Ghanbari had killed himself in prison, state-run Aftab News reported. But messages by Iranians on social media cast doubt on the cause of his death”:
Not good: 23 years old #SinaGhanbari who was arrested during #IranProtests & sent 2 #Evin Prison has died in custody on Jan 6 of ‘unknown causes’. ‘The world is watching’ the repression of peaceful protesters by the Khomeinist Regime! Reported by Darya Safai@FoxNews @AlArabiya
— Walid Phares (@WalidPhares) January 8, 2018
National Police spokesman Saeed Montazer al-Mahdi reportedly said Sunday that the majority of protesters who were detained had been released on bail but that “the leaders of the disturbances are being held by the judiciary.”
CNN reported that the national protests lasted for six days. However, Monday marked the eleventh day of protests, and reports on social media indicate they are still going despite the Iranian regime’s attempts to shut them down.
Iranian authorities have killed 21 people and arrested more than 1,000, according to the State Department, in the largest uprising since the 2009 protests against the faux election victory of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Ironically, Ahmadinejad, 61, – who was hand-picked by Iran’s religious clerics to run the country – was reportedly arrested for “inciting violence” following comments he made during a December 28 protest in the western Iranian city of Bushehr. According to the New York Post, Ahmadinejad reportedly said, “Some of the current leaders live detached from the problems and concerns of the people, and do not know anything about the reality of society.” He also allegedly accused the government of “mismanagement.” He will be kept under house arrest with the approval of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Adelle Nazarian is a politics and national security reporter for Breitbart News. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
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