Blogger's death in detention still unexplained one year later
Published on 17 March 2010
Tomorrow is the first anniversary of blogger Omidreza Mirsayafi’s
tragic death in Tehran’s Evin prison, a death that could have been
avoided if the prison staff had not been negligent. “If they have
acted promptly and done what was necessary, Mirsayafi could have
been saved,” Reporters Without Borders said. “His death is all the
more regrettable as his detention was totally unjustified.”
Mirsayafi collapsed at 12 noon on 18 March 2009 and was taken to
the prison infirmary. The prison authorities then took three hours
to transfer him to Loghman Hakim Hospital in the centre of Tehran.
Admitted at 4 p.m., he died an hour later. An autopsy by a forensic
doctor gave the cause of death as suicide by means of an overdose
of a prescription drug (propranolol). The body was handed over to
the family for burial.
His family called for a second autopsy in vain. A commission under
the health ministry’s supervision issued a report in November 2009
that came to the same conclusions as the forensic doctor. The
family brought a complaint against the Evin prison authorities.
Reporters Without Borders supports the family’s call for an
investigation by an independent and impartial commission and the
release of all documents that could shed light on the circumstances
of Mirsayafi’s imprisonment and death.
Many questions remain unanswered. Why did the judge ignore
Mirsayafi’s lawyer when he said his client would be unable to
endure imprisonment because of his depressive tendencies? How was
Mirsayafi able to obtain 50 pills without anyone noticing? Why did
the prison staff take so long to transfer him to hospital despite
the obvious urgency and gravity of the situation?
Everything points to gross negligence on the part of the
authorities in the medical and psychological treatment they
accorded Mirsayafi.
“Mirsayafi’s death is emblematic of the tragedy affecting
dissidents in Iran today,” Reporters Without Borders said. “He is a
symbol of all those who are hounded, persecuted, arrested, jailed
and silenced. We pay tribute to his memory and we demand the
immediate release of the 50 or so journalists and bloggers who are
currently detained in Iran just for expressing their views
freely.”
Agence France-Presse has meanwhile reported that Revolutionary
Guards arrested around 30 netizens on 13 March. The arrests, which
yet again had no legal basis, show that the authorities are
reinforcing their crackdown on Internet users. For the first time
those arrested were formally accused of direct links with
opposition groups based abroad and western intelligence agencies
including the CIA.
The Iranian authorities hold the CIA responsible for all the
protests that have been taking place for the past nine months,
accusing it of supplying software for circumventing censorship and
inciting people to take part in banned demonstrations.
Reporters Without Borders urges the authorities to immediately name
the 30 people who are being held and give the reasons for their
arrests. Charges must be personal, not collective, and their rights
must be respected.