Nika Shakarami: Iran protester's family forced to lie about death - source

Also: Iran to investigate death of schoolgirl in early days of protests (The Guardian)

______________________________________________________________________

Source: BBC

Nika Shakarami: Iran protester's family forced to lie about death - source

6 October 2022

By Parham Ghobadi
BBC Persian

Relatives of a girl who died during protests in Iran have been forced into making false statements, a source close to the family has told BBC Persian.

Nika Shakarami, 16, went missing in Tehran on 20 September after telling a friend she was being chased by police.

On Wednesday night, a state TV report showed her aunt, Atash, saying: "Nika was killed falling from a building."

Her uncle was also seen on TV speaking against the unrest, as someone seems to whisper to him: "Say it, you scumbag!"

The source told BBC Persian that these were both "forced confessions" that came "after intense interrogations and being threatened that other family members would be killed".

-snip-

Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-63154994


Nika Shakarami messaged a friend to say she was being chased by security forces (BBC Persian source)

______________________________________________________________________

Source: The Guardian

Iran to investigate death of schoolgirl in early days of protests

Authorities respond to growing outrage over death of Nika Shakrami, but continue violent crackdown

Emma Graham-Harrison
Wed 5 Oct 2022 20.21 BST
Last modified on Thu 6 Oct 2022 05.15 BST

Iranian prosecutors have opened an investigation into the death of a teenage girl during the early days of protests in Tehran, who has become an icon for the anti-government movement.

-snip-

The death of Nika Shakrami, who would have turned 17 at the weekend, has become a focus for online activists who say she was killed during the first days of protests, in late September. After she went missing, her family spent several days searching for her before she was confirmed dead.

The government has responded to growing public outrage by launching an investigation. Officials told state media there were no bullet wounds in teenager’s body, her death was not linked to protests and she had fallen from a roof.

“A case has been filed in the criminal court to investigate the cause of Nika Shakrami’s death,” the Tehran public prosecutor Ali Salehi was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency late on Tuesday. “An order to investigate the case has been issued.”

-snip-

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/05/iran-investigation-death-schoolgirl-nika-shakrami-protests-crackdown