19-Year-Old from Urmia Dies After Being Beaten by Law Enforcement

A 19-year-old citizen from Urmia named Ali Khoda’i lost his life following injuries inflicted by law enforcement officers.

An informed source told Voice of America that Ali Khoda’i, a 19-year-old resident of Urmia who fell into a coma as a result of injuries from a law enforcement officer, died on Monday, October 15, after seven days in Imam Reza Hospital in Urmia.

The informed source told Voice of America that the young man, who worked as a motorcycle courier, was arrested on Monday, October 8, near Sahr Park in the Shahrokh Abad area of Urmia for not having a motorcycle license. During his arrest, he was beaten on the head by a law enforcement officer and fell into a coma.

According to this informed person, Mr. Khoda’i was the caretaker of his sister and earned his livelihood by working as a motorcycle courier.

It is reported that the body of this citizen was buried on Tuesday, October 17, in Razvan Garden in Urmia, and so far the officer responsible has not been arrested.

This is not the first time an Iranian citizen has lost his life during detention. Previously, Javad Kharrouanyan, who was arrested on September 8 by officers from the Khorrambid Intelligence Department, died due to beatings inflicted to extract a confession.

Earlier, the death of Benjamin Alboghbish, an Arab citizen of Ahvaz who was arrested on June 5, 1438, along with his brother Mohammad Ali Alboghbish by officers from the Intelligence Bureau, was announced to his family on June 25. Following the announcement of this news, Amnesty International called on Iranian authorities in a statement to conduct swift, effective, and impartial investigations into the death of this prisoner.

Before that, Sattar Beheshti, an Iranian worker, blogger, and activist who was arrested on November 9, 1391, by cyber police on charges such as “action against national security,” had his body buried only four days after his arrest. Years of follow-up by Sattar Beheshti’s family and activists led to no results, and only one officer was convicted of quasi-intentional manslaughter.

According to the latest research by Amnesty International, at least 11 suspicious deaths of detainees in Iran have occurred from December 2017 to present.

Source: Voice of America