Sattar Beheshti

Sattar Beheshti was born in 1977 and lived in Robat Karim, 27 km southwest of Tehran. Opposition websites report that he had been detained in 1999 after student protests at Tehran University. was not a major blog, and had fewer than 30 viewers in October. But although he "was regarded as a relatively minor figure" among Iran's bloggers, according to the New York Times, Beheshti's death "has provoked outrage among both opponents and supporters of Iran's leaders". In a blog post a day before his arrest, Beheshti wrote: "They threatened me yesterday and said, 'Your mother will soon wear black because you don't shut your big mouth'". Black is worn according to Islamic tradition to commemorate a person who has recently died. == Prior to death of blogger ==

Prior to death of Mr. Beheshti, President Mahmud Ahmadinejad planned to visit Evin prison on October 7, 2012, but the judiciary officials postponed the visit. on October 20, 2012, Ahmadinejad asked the head of judiciary system Sadeq Amoli-Larijani to facilitate this visit, Larijani rejected the president's request even after Ahmadinejad publicly expressed deep concerns about violation of law and civil rights of prisoners and threatened to fully cut the budget of judiciary system. Sattar Beheshti died shortly after that on October 30, 2012. ==Arrest and death==

Beheshti was arrested at his home on October 30 by the Cyberpolice (FATA) for what authorities said were "actions against national security on social networks and Facebook." On October 31 Beheshti "issued an official letter to the head of the prison". Beheshti is believed to be the 1800th prisoner to have died in custody in the Islamic Republic since 2003. ==Domestic reaction==

Iranian government Following the international outcry, the Iranian government's first official reaction to the incident came on November 11 when Iran's parliament announced that it would probe the circumstances of Beheshti's death. Later on the same day, Iran's judiciary also said it would investigate the matter. On November 13, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, Prosecutor-General of Tehran, told reporters that the blogger's case will be sent to the courts for consideration in about 10 days On 1 December, Iranian's national police chief, Ismael Ahmadi-Moqaddam, stated "Tehran's FATA should be held responsible for the death of Sattar Beheshti," and fired General Saeed Shokrian, commander of FATA (the cybercrimes police unit), for negligence in Beheshti's death, according to the Iranian Labor News Agency. ==International condemnation==

A number of governments and human rights organizations have condemned the Iranian government for Beheshti's death and called for an investigation of the incident. Other countries • The U.S. State Department called on Iran to investigate the murder of Beheshti: "We are appalled by reports that Iranian authorities tortured and killed blogger and activist Sattar Beheshti during a prison interrogation. Besheshti had been arrested for a crime no greater than expressing his political opinion online. We join the international community in demanding the Iranian government investigate this murder, hold accountable those responsible for Beheshti's arrest, torture, and killing, and immediately cease all reported harassment of Beheshti’s family." • A French foreign ministry spokesman said that Paris was "profoundly shocked" by the death of Beheshti and called on "the Iranian authorities to shed as much light as possible on the circumstances of his death. The repression of peacefully expressed dissident voices in Iran is unacceptable." • The spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said, "We call upon Iran to immediately clarify his status and treatment. Iran must comply with its domestic and international human rights obligations." Human rights organizations • Amnesty International: "The Iranian authorities must investigate the circumstances that led to the death of a blogger in detention in the capital Tehran... 'Fears that Sattar Beheshti died as a result of torture in an Iranian detention facility, after apparently lodging a complaint about torture are very plausible, given Iran’s track record when it comes to deaths in custody,' said Ann Harrison, Amnesty International’s Deputy Middle East and North Africa Programme Director." • Committee to Protect Journalists: "Iranian authorities must immediately explain the sudden death of imprisoned blogger Sattar Beheshti, who had previously complained about severe mistreatment in custody... CPJ also demands that the government launch a full investigation into the suspicious death and to immediately halt its intense harassment of the victim's family." • Reporters Without Borders said it was "deeply shocked to learn of the death... of the netizen Sattar Beheshti. The organization called on "Iranian authorities to clarify the exact circumstances of the netizen’s death" and implored "the international community not to allow this crime to go unpunished." • Iran Human Rights: "All the reports indicate that Mr. Sattar Beheshti died as a result of torture while he was in detention. Torture is very common during interrogations in Iranian detention centres. The number of prisoners who die under torture is much higher than the numbers reported by the media or human rights organizations. Iranian leaders must be held responsible for the widespread use of torture in Iranian prisons." == Catherine Ashton meeting with Gohar Eshghi ==

In March 2014 on International Women's Day, Catherine Ashton as EU foreign policy chief visited Gohar Eshghi—mother of Sattar Beheshti—and some other Iranian women activists. This meeting infuriated hardliners in Tehran. Iran warned Austrian embassy over Ashton meeting. Javan newspaper, which is affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard, censored Gohar Esghi's face from a photograph of the meeting. The doctored picture went viral on social media. Later Javan defended its action by saying they "did not want to introduce her as a seditionist". Sadegh Larijani, the head of Iran's judiciary, said "If it is to be that this will continue—trips such as these—and actions to take place against the security interests of the country, the judiciary will take action, and the Foreign Ministry will be responsible for the future consequences." ==See also==