Mahsa Amini Lawyers Demand Truth

Lawyers for the parents of Mahsa Amini – whose death at the hands of morality police sparked a wave of protests across Iran – have urged justice officials to tell the truth about the way she died.

Mahsa Amini, 22, poses in an undated photo. She is in a coma and fighting for her life after being arrested in Tehran, Iran, by the Islamic republic’s so-called morality police. (Newsflash)

Saleh Nikbakht and Ali Rezaei – lawyers of Mahsa’s family – have issued a new statement over her death demanding that “relevant judicial authorities” accept her parents’ objections.

Iranian forces have been cracking down on waves of civil disorder following Mahsa’s death.

The 22-year-old woman, from Saqqez, Kurdistan Province, was on a visit to Tehran when she was arrested by morality police, accused of violating hijab rules on 13th September.

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.

Mahsa Amini, 22, poses in an undated photo. She is in a coma and fighting for her life after being arrested in Tehran, Iran, by the Islamic republic’s so-called morality police. (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 her history of heart disease were faked by the Iranian government.

But her family’s lawyers now say they have had no answers from officials over their questions on how she died.

The legal team said: “We will continue to pursue legal avenues and the path of judicial litigation”.

Mahsa Amini, 22, poses in an undated photo. She is in a coma and fighting for her life after being arrested in Tehran, Iran, by the Islamic republic’s so-called morality police. (Newsflash)

Mahsa’s family are contesting the findings of the Iranian Forensic Medicine Commission, which ruled that her death was not caused by beatings.

The report on 7th October had determined that her death “was not caused by blows to the head and vital organs and limbs of the body.”

But her father Amjad told Iran’s Fars news agency that his daughter had been in perfect health.

Nikbakht said in October: “The lawyers rejected the forensic doctor’s report in their statement of defence.”

But their protestations have reportedly gone unanswered by the Iranian regime, with the lawyers now demanding that the authorities pay attention to their “repeated requests”.

Mahsa Amini, 22, lies on a hospital bed in an undated photo. She is in a coma and fighting for her life after being arrested in Tehran, Iran, by the Islamic republic’s so-called morality police. (Newsflash)

They also want the authorities to “make the original case [files] available for study and research”.

The head of the criminal prosecution and the special homicide investigator have both said on several occasions that Mahsa’s parents have the right to object to the official findings, according to independent Iranian media.

The family’s lawyers have also called for an independent inquiry into Mahsa’s death.

Death tolls in the protests since Mahsa’s death have so far climbed to at least 328, including 45 minors, while at least 1,160 have been injured, say independent estimates.

It is also understood that over 14,825 people have so far been arrested.