The inspection organization confirmed that Asia Panahi was pepper sprayed.

The head of the General Inspectorate of the State has confirmed the mistreatment of Asiyeh Panahi, who died shortly after her home was demolished, by municipal officials. He says the officials did not have a court order to demolish the shelter of this marginalized woman from Kermanshah.

The news of the death of Asiyeh Panahi, a 61-year-old woman who died shortly after resisting the demolition of her and her family's shelter, was widely covered in the media and social networks, leading to the dismissal of three Kermanshah municipality directors and their arrest.

Nearly two weeks ago, Kermanshah Municipality Executive Unit officers went to the site to demolish a number of houses that squatters had apparently built without permits in Sajjadieh Township, and they demolished a number of houses, including the one where Asiyeh Panahi and her family lived.

The Hamshahri newspaper reported, citing eyewitnesses, that municipal officials and their auxiliary forces resorted to violence and used pepper spray in clashes with Asiyeh and other residents who were resisting the demolition of their homes.

One witness said that Asia Panahi, who was suffering from shortness of breath, “couldn’t stand it” when pepper spray was used. She died as a result of the incident and on her way to the Cheshmeh Sefid camp.

Hojjatoleslam Hassan Darvishian, head of the General Inspectorate of the country, says that as soon as they learned about the destruction of Ms. Panahi and her family's residence, agents of this organization and the Kermanshah Justice Department began investigating and examining the case.

Without a court order, with “unauthorized pepper spray”

According to ISNA news agency, Darvishian said about the results of these investigations on Monday, June 3: "The municipal officers did not have a judicial order to demolish the shed, and in order to break the resistance of the deceased and prevent the demolition of the shed, they used unauthorized pepper spray."

He says that the land where the Panahi family's cabin was built is a religious endowment and part of the green space, and construction on it was unauthorized in every way, "but the treatment of this woman and a number of her relatives who were present at the site by the municipality officials is unacceptable."

According to Darvishian, for this reason, arrest warrants have been issued for the officers involved in the incident. Parviz Tavasolizadeh, the Chief Justice of Kermanshah Province, told reporters on the sidelines of a visit to the scene of the incident on June 10 that the head and deputy chief executive of Kermanshah Municipality have been arrested following the death of Asiyeh Panahi. Apparently, another municipal manager has also been arrested in connection with the case.

The head of the General Inspectorate of the country says that the municipal officials have cited a general ruling issued by one of the heads of the Kermanshah Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office last year for a period of one year to justify their action, but this ruling was issued solely to prevent unauthorized construction and not for demolition, and this is also one of the charges against the detainees.

Land grabbing with capers?

In an interview with the state-run IRNA news agency on June 24, Gholamreza Shahbazi, the executive director of Kermanshah Municipality, claimed that the officers “came across a caper that had been created in the course of land grabbing” while carrying out their mission.

Contrary to this claim, and according to published images, the residence of Ms. Panahi and her family was a small room built with cement blocks. Also, in one of the images, Asiah Panahi is sitting on the claw of a bulldozer to prevent the destruction of the room, and it is unlikely that a bulldozer was used to destroy the caper.