Iran says blogger who died in custody was beaten

AP: Prosecutor Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi told reporters Monday that an investigation into the death of Sattar Beheshti has found that he was beaten from the day of his arrest.

The Associated Press

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s state prosecutor has confirmed for the first time that a blogger who died in police custody last month had been beaten.

Prosecutor Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi told reporters Monday that an investigation into the death of Sattar Beheshti has found that he was beaten from the day of his arrest.

Ejehi said the beatings were not the cause of death, which most likely came from physical or psychological shock. The comments were reported by the semiofficial ISNA news agency.

The confirmation comes two days after Iran’s police fired the head of the Tehran cybercrimes unit over the case.

According to Iranian officials, Beheshti was detained Oct. 30 for alleged “cybercrimes” and was imprisoned and interrogated the next day. Beheshti died Nov. 3, and wounds were found on his body.