IRAN - Armita Garavand was buried amid tight security in Tehran on October 29

IRAN - Armita Garavand (funeral)

29 October 2023 :

October 29, 2023 - Armita Garavand was buried amid tight security in Tehran on October 29.
Nasrin Sotoudeh was beaten and arrested at the funeral
Unconfirmed reports say several people, including two of Garavand’s relatives, were arrested during the ceremony at the Behesht-e Zahra cemetery in southern Tehran.
Civil rights activist Reza Khandan told RFE/RL’s Radio Farda that his wife, prominent human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, was beaten and detained at the funeral.
"A number of participants were arrested and beaten up. Nasrin was among them," Khandan said by phone from Tehran.
RFE/RL's Radio Farda published amateur footage from Garavand's funeral.
He added that a number of those detained had been released, although others, including Sotoudeh, remained in detention. He said he hasn't been able to contact her.
Sotoudeh has previously been arrested and jailed after representing opposition activists, including women prosecuted for removing their mandatory headscarves.
Video clips published on social media showed a large crowds of people - both men and women - attending the burial ceremony.
Iran’s state media had reported Garavand’s death on October 28, nearly a month after she fell and went into a coma in the Tehran subway.
A relative told Radio Farda that “security agents” had told the family they would be given Garavand's body under the condition that the burial be held in Tehran and not in their native village in the western province of Kermanshah.
"We live in Tehran, but we don't bury our dead [here]. We hope to receive Armita's body,” the family member had said.
Rights groups and journalists say Garavand and two of her friends were confronted on October 1 by police officers for not wearing the mandatory hijab as they tried to enter a Tehran subway station.
One of the friends has said the officers physically assaulted Garavand, who later fell unconscious after entering a subway carriage. Officials have said Garavand suffered a sudden drop in blood pressure, fainted, and fell to the floor, hitting her head.
A source at Fajr Hospital, who spoke to Radio Farda on condition of anonymity due to security reasons, said shortly after the incident that Garavand suffered internal bleeding in the brain.
"Unfortunately, she went into a coma for some time after suffering from brain damage. She died a few minutes ago," the official government news agency IRNA said on October 28.
State media has shown Garavand's parents speaking of various potential causes for their daughter's fall and injury.
It is not clear if the statements were made under duress, but the Hengaw human rights group, which first reported the incident, said on October 5 that Garavand's mother, Shahin Ahmadi, had been detained temporarily by Iranian government security forces.
Earlier this month, Amini and the Women, Life, Freedom movement in Iran that was triggered by her death were awarded this year's Sakharov Prize, the European Parliament’s top rights award, the second honor bestowed upon Iranian women this month for their sometimes deadly struggle for human rights after activist Narges Mohammadi won the Nobel Peace Prize.