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The gruesome death of Ghafar Akbari, 48, in the town of Malekan exposed the deep-rooted brutality of Iran's clerical regime, a dictatorship that has long relied on violence and repression to silence dissent and maintain control. power. Akbari's death under torture while in police custody is part of a systemic pattern of human rights violations that highlights the regime's total disregard for justice and human dignity.
Akbari, a father of four from Yulqunlu village near Malekan, was arrested on November 8, 2024, as a suspect in a one-and-a-half-year-old murder case. Along with four others, he was detained despite a lack of evidence linking him to the crime. During his detention, Akbari was subjected to horrific torture, including being hung upside down, left in wet clothes in freezing temperatures, and deprived of food and water for extended periods. His toenails were ripped out and he was beaten so badly that he required emergency medical treatment.
Regime agents pressured Akbari to confess, threatening to charge him with unrelated crimes, such as the assassination of foreign figures. After hours of inhumane treatment, he was forced to admit his guilt. Akbari later recanted his confession to a prosecutor, saying it had been extracted under torture, but the regime escalated the abuse, ordering a “technical interrogation,” a euphemism for more intense torture.
Despite his critical condition, Akbari was transferred to an isolation cell in Maragheh prison, where medical staff repeatedly warned that he needed immediate hospitalization. These pleas were ignored until it was too late. Akbari was eventually sent to Sina Hospital in Maragheh, where he died on November 16 after two days in a coma. His death underscores the regime's deadly combination of uncontrolled violence and deliberate medical neglect.
The regime reacted quickly to stem the consequences of Akbari's death. Security forces threatened his family into silence and staged a hasty nighttime burial with just 20 minutes' notice – an unusual and culturally unacceptable act in the region, intended to quell public outcry. Despite this, a significant number of local residents attended the burial, defying the regime's efforts to suppress dissent.
A banner celebrating Akbari's arrest by police was hastily removed from Malekan after news of his death spread, further highlighting the regime's desperate attempts to control the narrative.
News of Akbari's death sparked outrage in Malekan, where citizens gathered outside the judiciary's office to demand justice. The regime responded with its usual brutality, deploying riot police and plainclothes officers to quell the protests and impose a climate of fear. The local prosecutor reportedly fled the scene as tensions escalated, highlighting the regime's inability to justify its actions in the face of growing public anger.
Akbari's case is not an isolated incident but part of a broader pattern of systemic violence under Iran's clerical dictatorship. In recent months, other detainees have died in similar circumstances, without the perpetrators being held accountable. Authorities have admitted that deaths in custody are a recurring problem, but the regime continues to use torture and coerced confessions to fabricate legal cases and intimidate the population.
Under Iranian law, the safety of detainees is the responsibility of the arresting agency. However, the regime systematically violates its own laws, and confessions obtained under torture remain a legal basis for harsh punishments, including execution. This widespread use of violence is not a sign of strength but a reflection of a regime that clings to power through fear and brutality.
The murder of Ghafar Akbari reveals the regime's desperation to maintain control at all costs. However, the growing anger of the Iranian people, as seen in Malekan and elsewhere, reflects a society increasingly unwilling to accept the regime's abuses.
Akbari's tragic death is not only a violation of human rights; it is a stark reminder of the cost of living under a dictatorship that clung to power through force and brutality. By resorting to systematic repression, the regime unwittingly forces the people to confront it with equal force, thereby paving the way for an inevitable reckoning with its long history of oppression and violence.
