Iran Says Detained Officer Involved in Man's Death During Arrest
An Iranian police officer allegedly involved in the death of a man during an arrest in the northeastern city of Mashhad has been detained, the judiciary's news agency reported Sunday.
The rare announcement of an investigation earlier today, and subsequent arrest of a law enforcement member, comes two weeks after Iran's judicial authority banned torture and other violations of defendants' rights.
"The offending officer... was arrested by the order of the military prosecutor's office," Mizan Online reported.
"Two other police officers who transferred the victim to the police station have also been investigated," it added.
The arrest comes after Khorasan Razavi province's police chief Mohammad-Kazem Taghavi announced an investigation into the incident, following reports by media outside Iran claiming the man "was poisoned by pepper spray."
"Special orders have been given ... for quickly investigating the case and finding out why and how" it happened, he told state news agency IRNA.
He expressed "regret" over the "incident" and said the results of the investigation will be announced soon.
The police were called to the scene over a 'family dispute' between the man and his ex-wife's family, IRNA said, adding that he died while being transferred to the police station.
According to Fars news agency, a video circulating on social media shows "a police officer using pepper spray and a taser in response to the arrested individual swearing at him".
"There are claims that the individual has died from suffocation due to being pepper sprayed," Fars added.
Mehdi Akhlaghi, an official with the province's judiciary said on Saturday that the man's family have pressed charges, IRNA reported.
Samples will be taken from the man's lung following autopsy to "investigate the impact of (pepper) spray on his death", Akhlaghi was quoted as saying.
Iran's judicial authority issued an order on October 15 banning torture, the use of "forced confessions", solitary confinement, illegal police custody and other violations of defendants' rights.
It came a week after controversy sparked by videos posted on social media showing police officers beating detainees in pickup trucks in the middle of a street.
In the videos, apparently filmed in Tehran, the detainees were also made to apologise for the "mistakes".
Iran's judiciary chief Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi in response said the police action was a "case of violation of civil rights.”
He also ordered measures be taken against those responsible, saying it was "strictly forbidden to attack the accused, even if they are thugs.”
Photo: IRNA
