Iran's judiciary claims Sarina Esmailzadeh committed suicide
An hour after the Iranian judiciary claimed that Sarina Esmailzadeh, one of the victims of the ongoing protests in Iran, had committed suicide, the Tasnim news agency released a video of statements attributed to her mother.
According to Mizan News Agency, Hossein Fazeli Harikandi, the head of the Alborz Justice Department, claimed on Friday, October 5, that Sarina Esmailzadeh, who had previously been named by Amnesty International as one of those killed in the ongoing protests, committed suicide by jumping from the roof of her grandmother's house next door in Azimieh, Karaj, on the morning of October 2.
Mr. Fazeli Harikandi, citing the forensic medical report, stated that the cause of Ms. Esmailzadeh's death was "impact, fracture, and bleeding resulting from a fall from a height," and claimed that she had a "history of unsuccessful suicide attempts by taking pills."
The Chief Justice of Alborz has also claimed that Sarina Esmaeilzadeh's family has appeared at the Karaj Prosecutor's Office and demanded that a denial be issued.
An hour after the news was published, the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency released a video in which Sarina's mother, in response to a "journalist"'s question about the media's misuse of the news of her daughter's "suicide," says that she was a "sharp-witted" girl, focused on her studies, and "wasn't one to say these things."
The publication of videos of forced confessions from political prisoners and civil activists in the Islamic Republic's media has a long history, but following the recent increase in political and social protests, the broadcast of forced confessions from ordinary citizens has also increased.
On Wednesday evening, October 4, the Islamic Republic Radio and Television (IRTV) showed in a video report the aunt and uncle of Nika Shakermi, another victim of the ongoing protests, repeating the state media's claim that she died as a result of "jumping from a height."
A few hours after the program aired, Nasrin Shakermi, Nika Shakermi's mother, responded in a video message to the rumors and claims of the government and its affiliated media outlets about her daughter's death.
In this video message, which was made available exclusively to Radio Farda, Ms. Shakermi spoke of the security threats and pressures against her and that she was under pressure to repeat the government's narrative and scenario regarding her daughter's death.
Nika's mother also said that her brother and sister, Mohsen and Atash Shahkarami, were arrested and forced to confess falsely under extreme pressure. Nika Shakarami, a 17-year-old teenager who went missing during the protests on Keshavarz Boulevard, was killed by "multiple blows to the head with a hard object," according to her mother, according to a forensic medical certificate.
State media and judicial officials in the Islamic Republic have claimed that she was "thrown" from the top of a building and killed, but Nika's mother calls these claims lies.
Source: Radio Farda
