Doctor Dies In Police Station An Hour After Being Arrested By Security Forces

An Iranian doctor has reportedly died in a police station one hour after he was arrested by the country’s security forces.

Photo shows Ebrahim Rigi, undated. He reportedly died under custody an hour after being arrested on the street in Zahedan, Iran, Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023. (Newsflash)

Ebrahim Rigi, 24, was reportedly arrested on the streets of Zahedan, the capital of Sistan and Baluchestan Province, in south-eastern Iran, on Wednesday, 22nd February.

This is according to Radio Free Europe, Iran International, and local Farsi media outlets.

Iran International, quoting Amnesty International, said that Rigi died as a result of beatings and injuries sustained in police custody.

Amnesty is quoted as saying on Friday, 24th February that “evidence pointing to torture shows once again the Iranian authorities’ horrific assault on the right to life.”

This contradicts the statement from an unnamed local police commander who allegedly said on Thursday that unnamed people had had a dispute with the victim and had taken him to the police station, with him arriving already unconscious.

Rigi, a medical intern, had already been arrested once before, on 13th October, in connection with the hijab protests rocking Iran.

Photo shows Ebrahim Rigi, undated. He reportedly died under custody an hour after being arrested on the street in Zahedan, Iran, Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023. (Newsflash)

He was reportedly released on bail before being rearrested last week.

Iran International reports that a large crowd made up of thousands of protesters had gathered in Zahedan on Friday, saying that this “has become a weekly practice since September when security forces killed more than 90 people”.

Iran International also said that “images and videos from Zahedan show the continued presence of security forces in the streets and the deployment of snipers on the hills around the city as well as on some high-rise buildings in the city.”

Iranian forces have been cracking down on waves of civil disorder following the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, from Saqqez, Kurdistan Province.

She was on a visit to Tehran when she was arrested by morality police, accused of violating hijab rules on 13th September 2022.

She was allegedly beaten while in custody and spent the following days in a coma in the hospital before succumbing in the ICU on 16th September.

Photo shows Ebrahim Rigi, undated. He reportedly died under custody an hour after being arrested on the street in Zahedan, Iran, Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023. (Newsflash)

The clinic where she was treated said in a now-deleted social media post that she had been admitted brain-dead.

Alleged medical scans of her skull leaked by hackers showed that she had suffered bone fractures, haemorrhages, and brain oedema.

Independent Iranian media have claimed that Mahsa’s medical records showing a history of heart disease that officials gave as the cause of death were faked by the Iranian government.

Numbers differ regarding how many people have been killed since the protests began.

The ongoing protests in Iran have killed at least 516 people, according to independent estimates.

It is also understood that approximately 20,000 people have been arrested.