The mother of the Iranian blogger who died in the custody of cyber police a week after his arrest has told opposition media that she does not believe statements by the authorities regarding her son’s death and she is convinced he was killed in prison.
Sattar Beheshti, an Iranian blogger who criticized the government on his blog and in his Facebook entries, died while in custody less than a week after his arrest.
His mother told Saham News, an opposition website, that she saw blood on her son’s shroud during the burial and stressed that Sattar Beheshti was suffering from no illnesses and did not take any medication.
The coroner’s report has so far indicated that Sattar Beheshti died from natural causes and has hinted at heart complications. The coroner’s office also said that Beheshti was previously taking heart medication.
Beheshti’s mother said her family is under pressure by the security forces and has been threatened against giving media interviews.
Opposition media were the first to report on the death of Sattar Beheshti in prison, and 41 political prisoners who saw Beheshti before he taken for his final interrogation have written a letter saying they saw evidence of torture on his body.
Beheshti’s death generated an outcry in the media that led to a government probe into his death. The spokesman for the judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, has confirmed that bruises were seen on the body of the deceased but the coroner’s report claimed that the bruises were not cause of his death.
The report read at Parliament has indicated however that there is need for further judicial investigation.
Sattar Beheshti’s mother insists that her son was killed and has called on judiciary officials to pursue his case.
She also claimed that officials have offered her blood money for her son but that she has rejected it.
She told Saham News that the authorities have put her family under surveillance and they even had shown her an arrest warrant for her daughter.
The report indicates that in Robat Karim during Sattar Beheshti’s burial, when the victim’s sister was seen talking with Saham News, she was temporarily arrested and warned against speaking to the media.
