Death of an Iran prison doctor raises suspicion

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

BEIRUT — An Iranian doctor who treated victims of torture at Tehran's most feared prison has died, amid conflicting reports of a heart attack, a car accident or suicide — raising opposition accusations that the 26-year-old was killed.

Revelations that protesters detained in Iran's postelection crackdown were tortured, some to death, were a deep embarrassment to the country's clerical rulers. Dr. Ramin Pourandarjani was pressured to change the death certificate of one of the most well known victims and later spoke to a parliament commission investigating the abuse, opposition Web sites reported.

Much of the abuse took place at a facility known as Kahrizak on Tehran's outskirts, where Pourandarjani — a general practitioner — was the only doctor, serving there once a week as part of his mandatory military service.

Deaths of several protesters in custody raised outrage among the opposition and even among some conservatives who support Iran's government. Hundreds of protesters and opposition activists were arrested in the crackdown that suppressed protests following the disputed June 12 presidential election. The opposition says at least 69 people were killed while the government has confirmed around 30 deaths.



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[pampango]

1. Death of an Iran prison doctor raises suspicion

Source: AP

An Iranian doctor who went public with reports of tortured protesters he treated at Tehran's most feared detention facility dies, amid conflicting reports of a heart attack, a car accident or suicide — raising opposition accusations that the 26-year-old was killed. At first, authorities announced that Pourandarjani had a heart attack in his sleep. Then they claimed he died of poisoning. Late Monday, the office of Tehran's general prosecutor Abbas Dowlatabadi said "preliminary autopsy revealed he did not die of poisoning."

The doctor's father, Reza-Qoli Pourandarjani, said he didn't believe any of the causes given so far by the government in his son's death. But he didn't go as far as accusing authorities of killing his son. "Just the night before his death, my child talked to me on the phone, it was around 8 or 9 p.m. He sounded great, very dignified, displaying no sign of someone about to commit suicide," the senior Pourandarjani said in a telephone interview from his home in Tabriz in northwestern Iran. "He was even full of hope," and making plans with friends, the father said.

Several opposition Web sites raised concerns that Pourandarjani was killed because he knew the conditions of a number of torture victims at Kahrizak, including 24-year-old Mohsen Rouhalamini, the son of a prominent conservative figure. Rouhalamini's death in late July was the main factor raising anger among government supporters over the abuse. They said Pourandarjani also was interviewed by the parliamentary committee investigating the abuse. He told them Rouhalamini was brought to him at Kahrizak "in a dreadful state after being subjected to extreme physical torture. He was in a critical state," Mowjcamp said, citing parliament officials.

Pourandarjani said that after the youth's death, "officials in Kahrizak threatened that if I disclosed the causes of the wounds of the injured at Kahrizak, I would not be able to live," the site reported. It said Pourandarjani was detained for a week until he agreed to announce the cause of Rouhalamini's death as meningitis rather than from beatings.

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Sounds like he was probably killed. The authorities have gone from "heart attack in his sleep" to "poisoning" - one assumes they mean suicide not murder to revealing the autopsy did not show poisoning.

If he died of a heart attack, the Iranian government is really unlucky. What are the odds that a 26-year-old who happened to be the only doctor at a prison where torture may have occurred and had testified at a parliamentary committee about it, would die of a heart attack?

If he committed suicide, he becomes a martyr (like Neda) for the opposition to the current government. If he was killed, he also becomes a martyr, but the government can hope that the intimidation value of the killing will suppress the opposition more than his martyrdom provides more fuel for it.