A well known Iranian human rights activist has killed himself in protest at what he known as the dictatorship of Iran’s supreme chief, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
In a publish on social media, Kianoosh Sanjari mentioned he would take his personal life if 4 political prisoners weren’t launched by 19:00 native time (15:30 GMT) on Wednesday.
His loss of life was confirmed hours later by fellow activists.
In a publish earlier than he died, he mentioned he wished that “in the future Iranians” would “get up and overcome slavery”.
Sanjari was a vocal critic of Iran’s leaders and advocate for democracy.
“Nobody ought to be imprisoned for expressing their opinions,” he mentioned earlier than he died.
“Protest is the fitting of each Iranian citizen.”
On Wednesday morning, he had written: “If Fateme Sepehari, Nasreen Shakrami, Tomaj Salehi and Arsham Rezaei will not be launched from jail by 19:00 as we speak … I’ll finish my life in protest in opposition to the dictatorship of Khamenei and his companions.”
All 4 had been arrested for his or her help and involvement within the wave of unprecedented protests following the loss of life of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in 2022 after being detained by Iran’s morality police.
Sanjari was repeatedly arrested and imprisoned for his political activism between 1999 and 2007.
He left Iran in 2007 and obtained asylum in Norway, earlier than becoming a member of US broadcaster Voice of America’s Persian service in Washington DC.
He returned to Iran in 2016 to be along with his dad and mom, and was arrested and sentenced to 11 years imprisonment in Evin prison, the place political prisoners are sometimes imprisoned.
He was launched on bail in 2019 on medical grounds, and subsequently taken to a psychiatric hospital.
He advised native media he was given electrical shocks, chained to a mattress and injected with substances.
“Kianoosh Sanjeri is not only a reputation, it’s a image of years of ache, resistance and wrestle for freedom,” freedom of speech activist Hossein Ronaghi posted on X.
