Hasty Burial of Alireza Shirmohammadali, Political Prisoner; Are They Attempting to Close the Case Again?
One day after the killing of “Alireza Shirmohammadali,” a political prisoner in Fashafuyeh Prison, his body was buried on Wednesday, June 11, 2024. This comes as Iranian judicial authorities remain silent and it is unclear why such expedited burial procedures have been undertaken in a case that requires thorough autopsy investigations.
Hasty burial is a common practice by Iran’s judicial system to close suspicious murder cases. Apart from the executions of the 1980s and 1990s, following the 2009 protests, some victims were quickly buried. In the 2010s, among notable cases was the death of Sattar Beheshti, a worker and blogger, who was quickly buried after his death in detention.
Also noteworthy is the case of Haleh Sahabi, a political activist and daughter of Ezzatollah Sahabi, who was granted a furlough from prison to attend her father’s burial ceremony but died in a clash with security forces. Her body was buried that same night (June 1, 2011), just hours after her death, without being transferred to the coroner’s office.
Hadi Saber, a political prisoner, went on a hunger strike in protest after hearing of this incident and on June 11, 2011, after being beaten by prison guards while severely weakened from his hunger strike, lost his life. His body was also buried a day later, without informing his family and under strict security measures.
Alireza Shirmohammadali, a political prisoner in Tehran’s Fashafuyeh Prison, was stabbed to death by two prisoners on Monday evening, June 10, 2024.
“Mohammad Hadi Erfaniyan Kasb,” Alireza Shirmohammadali’s lawyer, in an interview with Voice of America, confirmed the news and stated that the attack was carried out by two individuals charged with murder who apparently had no prior dispute with Alireza Shirmohammadali.
According to this first-grade lawyer, Fashafuyeh Prison lacks proper conditions, and the presence of political prisoners such as Alireza Shirmohammadali and Gonabadi Dervishes alongside prisoners convicted of ordinary crimes raises concerns.
The killing of this political prisoner in prison has provoked numerous reactions. Among them, Prince Reza Pahlavi tweeted: “The killing of yet another brave son of Iran in Khamenei’s torture chambers demonstrates that the attention of media outlets and human rights organizations to political-ideological prisoners is by no means sufficient. It is the duty of each of us to strive for the liberation of the struggling prisoners from the bonds of tyranny.”
Source: Voice of America
