Mother of December Protester Breaks Silence; ‘My Son Was Killed in Prison’

The mother of Sina Qanbari, a 22-year-old young man who was arrested during the December protests of 2017, says her son was killed in prison.

Sina’s mother, who spoke with Masih Alinejad for the first time after her son’s death, emphasizes with a distressed and affected demeanor that she regrets her year-long silence and now wants everyone to know that Sina Qanbari was killed in prison.

Last December, the news of Sina Qanbari’s death in prison was confirmed by two Tehran representatives in parliament, and Mahmoud Sadeghi warned of a repeat of “another Kahrizi[abad incident].” However, hours later, the General Director of Tehran Province Prisons claimed in an interview with ISNA that Sina Qanbari hanged himself in the quarantine bathroom of Evin Prison, committing suicide.

Sina’s mother says that before his arrest, Sina was excitedly planning for his birthday, and it is impossible that a young man with such a spirit would commit suicide.

According to Sina’s mother, he spoke with her twice by phone during his detention, and the second time he said he had been beaten but still had good spirits.

She emphasizes that throughout the entire past year, she has not believed even one percent that her son committed suicide.

Besides Sina Qanbari in Tehran, Vahid Haidari in Arak, Saro Qahrammani and Kianosh Zandi in Sanandaj, and Shahabeddin Abtahi in Arak were among the detainees from the December 2017 protests who were reported to have died in prison.

During Iran’s nationwide protests that began on Thursday, December 7, 2017, and spread to 160 Iranian cities, severe crackdowns by the Islamic Republic of Iran took place, resulting in several deaths and thousands of arrests.

Mike Pence, the Vice President of the United States, was among senior American officials who repeatedly supported the Iranian people’s right to protest the government during the days of protests.

Heather Nauert, the spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department, also strongly condemned the killing and arrest of some in connection with Iran’s protests.

Additionally, Nikki Haley, then U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, called for the suppression of protests in Iran to be addressed in the UN Security Council and warned the Islamic Republic government that the world is watching its conduct.

Source: Voice of America