Mahsa Amini,22, who received fatal injuries when she was arrested by Iran's hijab police
The copy of a judicial letter published by a hacking group shows that Iranian officials knew Mahsa Amini sustained injuries during her arrest by the hijab police.
Edalate Ali (Ali’s Justice), a well-known hactivist group published the copy of an official letter on social media dated September 14 and written by an assistant prosecutor, Ali Amraei, to his boss in Tehran’s Court District 38.
The letter says that according to an investigation, eyewitnesses in the area where Ms. Amini was arrested saw a young woman arguing with the hijab police and falling, hitting her head on the curb.
Apparently, the police were trying to force her into their vehicle.
The letter shows that Islamic Republic officials knew Amini had received head injuries during her arrest but have been insinuating that she had a brain problem previously and might have died from an illness, unrelated to her arrest.
Also, the government letter is not conclusive evidence that the victim fell and hit her head on the curb, since the eyewitnesses cited by the assistant prosecutor saw a “young woman”, and did not verify her identity.
An eyewitness who saw Amini at the police station after her arrest told Iran International on Monday that the victim told her a police officer had hit her on the head and she was complaining of pain, before passing out.
The official version in the letter could also be an attempt to absolve the police from the accusation of assault by portraying the incident as perhaps an accident whereby Mahsa Amini fell and injured her head.
Her death immediately led to protests in Iran that have turned into a widespread uprising against the Islamic Republic. Young people especially, frustrated by harsher implementation of compulsory hijab, lack of other social freedoms and a dismal economy, reacted to the incident with indignation and began large protests that quickly turned into anti-regime demonstrations. Protesters and nearly 100 cities and toens, as well as many Iranian on social media say they can no longer tolerate the clerical system of government.
Authorities with all its police and anti-riot forces have not been able to quell the unrest so far, unlike past instances of mass protests since 2017.
Earlier, Iran International had also published Amini’s hospital CT scans showing a broken skull and a large brain swelling. Hospital staff also verified that she was brought in already in a coma and had no chance of recovery. The judiciary letter also confirms that she was delivered to the hospital in a coma.
President Ebrahim Raisi and other top officials have promised an investigation into the tragic incident, but so far, they have not issued any progress reports, and no one has been identified from among the police as responsible for Mahsa Amini’s fatal injury. There have been no suspensions and no arrests of police officers.