Iran police says investigating man’s death during arrest

TEHRAN — Iran’s police are investigating the death of a man who was apparently killed while being arrested by an officer in the northeastern city of Mashhad, state news agency IRNA reported on Sunday.

The rare announcement of an internal investigation by law enforcement authorities comes two weeks after Iran’s judicial authority banned torture and other violations of defendants’ rights.

The probe came after media outside Iran carried reports “of a young man’s death and images of when the suspect was arrested, claiming he was poisoned by pepper spray”, said police chief Mohammad-Kazem Taghavi of Khorasan Razavi province, where Mashhad is the capital.

“Special orders have been given... for quickly investigating the case and finding out why and how” it happened, he added.

He expressed “regret” over the “incident” and said the results of the investigation will be announced soon.

Taghavi offered no further details.

According to Fars news agency, a video circulating on social media shows “a police officer using pepper spray and a taser in response to the arrested individual swearing at him”.

“There are claims that the individual has died from suffocation due to being pepper sprayed,” Fars added.

Mehdi Akhlaghi, an official with the province’s judiciary said on Saturday that the man’s family have pressed charges, IRNA reported.

Samples will be taken from the man’s lung following autopsy to “investigate the impact of [pepper] spray on his death”, Akhlaghi is quoted as saying.

Iran’s judicial authority issued an order on October 15 banning torture, the use of “forced confessions”, solitary confinement, illegal police custody and other violations of defendants’ rights.

It came a week after controversy sparked by videos posted on social media showing police officers beating detainees in pickup trucks in the middle of a street.

In the videos, apparently filmed in Tehran, the detainees were also made to apologise for the “mistakes” they say they have committed.

Iran’s judiciary chief Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi in response said the police action was a “case of violation of civil rights”.

He also ordered measures be taken against those responsible, saying it was “strictly forbidden to attack the accused, even if they are thugs”.