Shabtabnews In this dark night, I have lost my way – Arise from a corner, oh you the star of guidance.
RFL/RE – A 15-year-old Iranian teenager imprisoned in the central Iranian city of Karaj has been released after an interview with his mother went viral on social media.
Amirhossein Rahimi’s mother told the Tehran-based Etemad newspaper that her son had been in prison for two months, even though he still had pellets in his head and chest from wounds inflicted by security forces shooting at crowds during a protest.
“My son was arrested in Karaj on October 13 and I did not know his whereabouts for a week. Finally, I found him in a juvenile detention center,” she told Etemad, adding that no matter how much she begged, the judge would not reduce bail to an amount she could afford because he was facing serious charges.
The interview went viral on social media and Etemad announced on December 15 that Amirhossein Rahimi had been released from detention on a reduced bail.
“The people’s reactions caused the judge to back down and immediately issue the release order. This shows the power of the people. I hope the rest of the prisoners will be released,” an Etemad political editor wrote on Twitter.
Rahimi’s mother said in the interview that the public defender did not respond to her requests for a meeting and only once was she able to talk to him on the phone, which ended with him behaving in an aggressive manner.
By threatening and intimidating lawyers, authorities in the Islamic republic often prevent or discourage them from accessing files of the accused, forcing detainees to appear in court with a public defender. In many cases, these public defenders not only fail to support the defendant, some often speak against them in court.
The unrest sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini has swept across the country over the past three months.
Amini died while in police custody in mid-September after being detained for allegedly wearing a hijab improperly. Eyewitness reports said the 22-year-old was beaten while being arrested by police, while the authorities said she died of “underlying diseases.”
Security forces have waged a violent crackdown on protesters around the country, killing scores, injuring hundreds, and detaining several thousand people.
As the scattered anti-government protests rage across Iran for a 12th week, universities and schools have turned into a major battleground between the protesters and the authorities.
The activist HRANA news agency said that, as of November 29, at least 459 protesters have been killed during the unrest, including 64 minors, as security forces try to stifle widespread dissent.
