Reports from Tehran families in recent days of receiving the bodies of relatives arrested at opposition rallies who later died from violent treatment in prison have fueled anger at the government.
Among the dead is Mohsen Rouhalamini, the son of a prominent conservative and adviser to presidential candidate Mohsen Rezai. His family said he died of cardiac arrest and bleeding in his lungs, and that his face had been smashed.
News of his death in prison last week spurred fury across political lines, prompting even some progovernment newspapers and lawmakers to charge the regime with excessive use of force and violence in crushing its opposition. Opposition leaders warned of a backlash and urged the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to reverse its actions.
“People will not forgive these acts. How could it be possible that someone goes into a prison, then his body comes out?” opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi said Monday in a meeting with teachers.
Some of the families say they are speaking out despite being warned against speaking to the media and holding funerals and memorial services. On receiving the bodies, they say, they were told to sign consent forms that named the cause of death as meningitis, flu or bacterial infection.
In addition, scores of protesters who have been detained and released in the past few weeks are now coming forth with details of their arrest and prison conditions. These accounts …
