{"id":1225,"date":"2018-02-12T18:39:02","date_gmt":"2018-02-12T18:39:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/?p=1225"},"modified":"2018-02-12T18:39:02","modified_gmt":"2018-02-12T18:39:02","slug":"clear-signs-of-state-cover-up-in-prison-death-of-iranian-canadian-academic-in-iran%e2%80%8b","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/?p=1225","title":{"rendered":"Clear Signs of State Cover-Up in Prison Death of Iranian-Canadian Academic in Iran\u200b"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/iransos.com\/en\/photo\/2011\/k\/kavus-seyed-emamy.jpg\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Distraught Family Under Enormous Pressure to Bury Body Quickly and Not Speak Publicly About the Death<\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">February 12, 2018\u2014The family of the Iranian-Canadian academic,\u00a0Kavous Seyed-Emam<a href=\"mailto:https:\/\/www.iranhumanrights.org\/2018\/02\/iranian-canadian-academic-dies-in-custody-while-under-interrogations\/\">i<\/a>, whose death in custody in Iran was announced on February 9, is under intense pressure to immediately bury Seyed-Emami in a private funeral\u2014without receiving any independent and medically corroborated information on the cause of his death\u2014and to remain silent regarding the death.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><!--more--><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Seyed-Emami died under highly suspicious circumstances while in detention in Evin Prison. The authorities are calling his death a suicide\u2014the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/click.icptrack.com\/icp\/relay.php?r=58654548&amp;msgid=952695&amp;act=1FNF&amp;c=333585&amp;destination=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.iranhumanrights.org%2F2018%2F01%2Firan-should-launch-independent-investigation-of-authorities-claims-that-protesters-committed-suicide%2F\">third death<\/a>\u00a0in prison that has been labelled a suicide in recent days despite near universal doubts regarding the veracity of such claims.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">\u201cIran\u2019s judiciary must allow an independent and transparent autopsy of Kavous Seyed-Emami\u2019s body in order for the family and the public to know how he died,\u201d said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">A relative living abroad who is aware of the details of the case told CHRI that Seyed-Emami\u2019s family told the authorities that they wanted an independent autopsy. The authorities reportedly told the family that they would do an autopsy, but as of the evening of February 11, it is not clear that one has been done and no results providing any information on the cause of death have been released to the family.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">\u201cYou cannot be both the accused and the investigator and expect people to believe your conclusion,\u201d said the relative.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">CHRI calls upon the authorities in Iran to:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Allow an independent autopsy to be conducted, the results of which will be made public.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> \u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Carry out any request for a full and independent investigation into Seyed-Emami\u2019s death.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> \u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Allow the family to conduct funeral and memorial services as per its own wishes.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> \u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Immediately end all pressure on the family to remain silent.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> \u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Cease all other intimidation tactics which include police surveillance of the family.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">\u201cClaims that Seyed-Emami\u2019s death was a suicide have no credibility whatsoever. This is a prison system out of control and a Judiciary that is actively colluding in a massive cover-up,\u201d said Ghaemi.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">\u201cThe authorities\u2019 remarks about the case from start to finish and the pressure they are putting on the family leaves no doubt that there is a concerted state cover up,\u201d he added.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Sources close to the family have said that Seyed-Emami\u2019s family is under constant surveillance, with police posted at the house and that the family is under enormous pressure not to speak to anyone about the case and to quickly bury the body without any public funeral or memorial service.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">There are worries that people close to the case will be subjected to forced statements that confirm the state narrative of the events surrounding Seyed-Emami\u2019s death. Iran has a long and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/click.icptrack.com\/icp\/relay.php?r=58654548&amp;msgid=952695&amp;act=1FNF&amp;c=333585&amp;destination=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.iranhumanrights.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2FIRIB_Briefing-6.30.14.FINAL_.pdf%3Fx96855\">documented<\/a>\u00a0history of forcing individuals to make false statements and confessions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">In a statement earlier on February 11, Tehran\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/ybdmcxk9\">chief prosecutor said<\/a>\u00a0that Seyed-Emami committed suicide due to confessions made against him: \u201cThis person was one of the accused [environmental activists] and given he knew that there is a torrent of confessions against him and he confessed himself, unfortunately he committed suicide in prison.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">The prosecutor\u2019s incredulous claim of knowing the reason for an individual\u2019s alleged suicide casts further doubt on what can only be described as the state\u2019s increasingly desperate attempts to cover up the events leading to the death of Seyed-Emami.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">The Judiciary has told the family they will receive the body\u00a0on Tuesday\u00a0morning on the condition that they immediately and quietly bury him, according to the relative abroad. A funeral is planned for\u00a0Tuesday\u00a0morning in the village of Amameh in the mountains north of Tehran.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">A steady procession of friends, family, students and colleagues visited the family home\u00a0on Monday\u00a0under the surveillance of police officers stationed near the house.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">For interviews, contact:<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> Hadi Ghaemi<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> +1-917-669-5996<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> <a href=\"mailto:hadighaemi@iranhumanrights.org\">hadighaemi@iranhumanrights.org<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Visit our website:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/click.icptrack.com\/icp\/relay.php?r=58654548&amp;msgid=952695&amp;act=1FNF&amp;c=333585&amp;destination=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iranhumanrights.org\">www.iranhumanrights.org<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>February 12, 2018\u2014The family of the Iranian-Canadian academic,\u00a0Kavous Seyed-Emami, whose death in custody in Iran was announced on February 9, is under intense pressure to immediately bury Seyed-Emami in a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[309,383],"class_list":["post-1225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-human-rights","tag-chri","tag-kavous-seyed-emami"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1225"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1225\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1226,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1225\/revisions\/1226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}