Iranian police commander dismissed after prisoner dies in custody
Official fired over ‘insufficient oversight of the conduct and behavior of staff’; rights group says Mohammad Mir Mousavi, arrested in a fight, allegedly tortured to death
Illustrative: Iranian police in Tehran, Iran, August 23, 2015. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
TEHRAN, Iran – Iran’s police force has dismissed the commander of a city in the northern province of Gilan after the death in custody of a detainee, state media said on Saturday.
Mohammad Mir Mousavi, 36, was arrested on July 22 after being involved in a fight in Lahijan, police said in a statement carried by the official news agency IRNA.
“The police commander… was dismissed due to insufficient oversight of the conduct and behavior of staff,” the police said.
“Due to the complexity of the matter, the final conclusion on the cause of Mohammad Mir Mousavi’s death depends on the medical examiner’s final report.”
The police said the station commander and several officers involved in the incident had been suspended.
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The Norway-based Kurdish human rights organization, Hengaw, said on Wednesday that Mir Mousavi “was killed under torture in the detention center.”
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during the debate on his proposed ministers at an open session of parliament, in Tehran, Iran, August 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
On Thursday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian ordered an investigation into the case.
Dismissals of members of the security forces are rare in Iran.
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In 2022, the death in custody of Masha Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman who had been arrested in Tehran for an alleged breach of the country’s strict dress code for women, sparked months of deadly nationwide protests, but no one in the police is known to have faced consequences.
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