Ultraviolent arrest in Iran

This video of a police arrest has been circulating on the Iranian blogosphere since Monday. The man arrested was accused of stealing money and a mobile phone.

The contents of the footage is so violent that we couldn't show all of it. The film we're publishing here has been cut. At the end of the video, the alleged thief, who has just been beaten by a policeman, is put into the boot of the car.

The video was published online by the organisation Human Rights Activists in Iran. We showed it to several of our Iranian Observers, who confirmed the credibility of the document. One of them, Reza Moïni, specialised in human rights in Iran and originally from the town where the arrest took place, explains the situation to The Observers.

"He said he was just looking for a cat'"

Reza Moïni runs the human rights information website Bidaran.net. He lives in Paris.

I'm from Khorramabad, where the video was shot. It's a very poor region of Iran, where 70% of people are unemployed. The police speak to the thief in Luri, the local dialect, and not in Farsi. They arrested the man because he's accused of stealing someone's money and mobile phone. When the police ask him where the money is, he said he was just looking for a cat. They then search and undress him, and say they've found 5,000 toman, brandishing a wad of banknotes, which they say is proof he committed the crime.

The video seems absolutely credible to me, because I know that the Iranian police commit this type of violence. That was the case under the Shah, it just wasn't done in the street in full public view.

I did notice though that the person filming is very close to the scene. The policeman knows that he's there. He even says "go on, film" at the start of the video. So I wonder who actually did the filming and how they leaked the images. It's possible that the scene was filmed by police staff. But not someone from the neighbourhood, because he's spoken to in Farsi."

Comments

Stop brutality

Submitted by jay (not verified) on Wed, 12/11/2008 - 18:11.

Well it’s a real shame that in country of Iran where law of Islam is in force they beat people like that ! even a criminals are NOT deserved to be subject to that kind of brutality ! if the guy is a criminal why don’t they deal with him according to the law ? then again from the human rights point of you Iranian governments has been condemned by UN more than 40 times since 1980 . in the country where civil rights got no real meaning of course police take liberty of taking the law in their hands and beating people in the streets in front of every one , if they are that savage in public hate to think what they do to prisoners behinds lock doors , surly that got to STOP

Unregistered user

For what the translatin says

Submitted by Unregistered user (not verified) on Wed, 12/11/2008 - 17:31.

For what the translatin says I don't see nothing wrong, human rights are a very good things shame that of criminals they do not respect them.to say that you look for a cat after you just took money and mobile phone maybe violently from a citizen is a reason for the police to take those action in the public because to take him to the police station first and then bitting to death as happened in England or still the money once at the poloice station as often happen in countries of east europe is better to search in front of the public. Yes bitting is not nice but he happens in many countries
and this particular case didn't seems to me very violent like the one filmed in Newyork.
What is my concern in countries like Iran, Saudy Arabiais is the Law rather than police.

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