The mother of Sattar Beheshti, the Iranian blogger who was pronounced dead five days after his arrest by the Iranian Cyber Police, has threatened to commit suicide in public if the authorities don’t start proceedings against those responsible for her son’s death.
Gohar Eshghi said in an interview with Saham News, published on Wednesday March 6: “I want justice, nothing else. I urge all human rights bodies, the United Nations and, most important of all, the Iranian government to make every effort to make sure the court proceedings in the case of the unjust murder of my son is public, and I am announcing now that if my request is not heeded, I will commit suicide in front of the court building.”
Sattar Beheshti was arrested last October and died after five days of torture and abuse by the Cyber Police.
Gohar Eshghi stressed that there are no developments in the case of her son’s death, adding that the authorities have given her a six-month time frame. The victim’s mother said, however, that she is worried by delays in the case.
“They keep telling us not to give interviews and that those who are outside the country will not do anything for us, they are only after their own interests,” Eshghi explained: “I was silent for some time but I have now decided that I will not sit down and let it pass. I will not remain silent.”
Eshghi reported that she has been offered blood money for her son but she has refused it, emphasizing that she wants to see the perpetrators of her son’s death tried in an open and legitimate court.
The death of Sattar Beheshti aroused public outrage, which led to the dismissal of the head of the Tehran Cyber Police for “failure in adequate supervision.”
The head of the judiciary, Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani, has recently issued a directive forbidding security forces from having their own detention centres, stressing that all detention centres must be under the supervision of the Prisons Organization. The directive appears to have been a reaction to what happened to Sattar Beheshti.
