On July 14, 2011, Iranian police officers raided a house in Darrud County and arrested a number of young individuals who had attended a non political gathering. After a few hours, all detainees except one were released on bail. Since Ramin (Mohammad) Yaghoubi couldn’t afford to post bail, he remained in police custody.

On the following morning, Intelligence Agency’s Special Unit picked up Ramin Yaghoubi in order to transport him to the court house to be arraigned. However, Ramin Yaghoubi was beaten severely and then delivered to prison officials in critical condition. From prison, he was taken to a hospital where he died five hours after being admitted for urgent medical care.

In an interview with Jaras News, Ramin Yaghoubi’s mother said, “In a matter of hours, they took my son who had committed no crime and killed him. Ramin was a guest in his friend’s house. He was arrested and taken to Police Station #11 together with others. Everyone was released except Ramin. He remained in the detention center. At 4:00pm, Ramin called me and said that he was arrested. I took some juice for him. At 12:00am, I also took food and some fruit with me to prison and stayed there with him until 2:00am. My innocent son was healthy then.”

“Next day, Intelligence Agency’s Special Unit took custody of him at 8:00am. Before taking him to see the judge, they beat him so severely that he didn’t have the strength to talk when he faced the judge. Then, the judge sentenced him to one week in prison. When Ramin was taken to jail, the warden made an observation and stated that my son wasn’t feeling well at all. However, the judge ordered the prison officials to take custody of Ramin according to a verdict issued by the judiciary.”

“Ramin became very ill while in prison. At 4:30pm, he was transferred to a hospital. I am upset because no one informed his family. At 11:00pm, they called us, and we went to the hospital where they delivered his lifeless body to us.”

Ramin Yaghoubi’s mother further explained, “My heart aches because Ramin was plain and modest. He had committed no crimes. He wasn’t political; he was neither a drug addict nor a smuggler.  He had no criminal record. He was arrested only because he was a guest in his friend’s house. Then they beat him so badly that he lost his life. I swore to God that I am losing my mind wondering why this innocent child was murdered. When I went to the hospital, I saw Ramin’s lifeless body. I didn’t recognize him at all. His back, head and face were bruised; all black and blue. The night before, I had taken dinner for him to prison; he was healthy then, but after only one night, his corpse was lying on a hospital bed in such condition.”

“Ten minutes before Ramin died, they told us to pay the hospital bill for the Intensive Care Unit. So we did. Ten minutes later, they said that our child passed away! I suppose they took him to the ICU just because they could claim that Ramin died there. They knew what they had done would cost him his life.”

To explain the cause of his son’s death, Ramin Yaghoubi’s mother said, “We live in Darrud County, Lorestan Province. The Prosecutor in town told us that my son’s body had to be sent to the medical examiner in Tehran or Ahvaz for a period of one week. At the time, we were so upset that Ramin’s father didn’t give his consent. We know there are medical examiners in Khoramabad and Borujerd.”

“Threatening and harassing us, they put so much pressure on us that we were forced to bury him quickly. In the hospital report, one physician noted that Ramin had convulsions; another one wrote that he died of drug intoxication. Yet, the third one reported that his death was due to a heart attack. Nevertheless, we have pictures of our son’s body covered with bruises, black and blue.”

To explain what the family has done in order to identify and punish those responsible for her son’s death, Ramin Yaghoubi’s mother stated, “We have filed a complaint against two intelligence agents who took custody of Ramin when he was in good health. There have been no answers yet. We can’t do anything but be patient; we don’t have much power to confront the government and can’t afford hiring an attorney. We can only ask God to deliver us justice.”

At the end, Ramin Yaghoubi’s mother said, “They took my 23 year old, young son from me. I ask the authorities to do something so that this won’t happen to others. Also, murderers must be punished according to the law. My innocent child had committed no crime.”

“How long must we tolerate insecure and unsafe conditions? How long are they going to beat and kill our youth and then deliver their corpses to us? Is this the meaning of security? My heart aches from the pain of losing my beloved murdered innocently. What else can I say? You know what a mother and a father have to go through when their son has been killed like this.”

“We just visit his grave to calm down. Returning again, we ask God for justice.”

Source : HRANA News Agency