The Tehran Prosecutor said on Monday December 24: “The most probable cause of the jailed blogger Sattar Beheshti’s death, is a blow, or blows together with mental stress.”
He added that the case was examined by “a commission of 11 pathologists and other physicians and they more or less confirmed this statement.”
Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi said the commission has confirmed that “Sattar Beheshti did not have heart problems.”
Beheshti was arrested on October 30 by Tehran Cyber Police and five days later he was pronounced dead by the authorities.
The judiciary made several attempts to explain Beheshti’s death with several contradictory explanations.
Beheshti’s cellmates in Evin Prison published a letter saying they had seen signs of torture on Beheshti’s body before he was taken on his last interrogation session.
The Kaleme opposition website also published a letter of complaint written by Beheshti himself before his death. In the letter, Beheshti detailed his mistreatment by the cyber police and expressed concern about his fate.
Public outrage about Beheshti’s death led to the establishment of a parliamentary probe. The head of the Tehran Cyber Police also resigned as a result of the scandal.
Dowlatabadi told the press conference today that all judiciary officials have been directed to “increase their level of supervision.”
The report of the parliamentary probe will reportedly be read in Parliament on Wednesday December 26.
