A man who had been sentenced to death in Iran in connection with the protests sparked by Mahsa Amini’s death died on Thursday following a seizure while incarcerated, state media reported.
Iranian-Kurdish Amini, 22, died last September after being arrested by the morality police in Tehran for allegedly breaching the country’s strict dress rules for women. Her death triggered months of protests that quickly escalated into calls for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic.
According to the Iranian judiciary’s Mizan news website, Javad Rouhi experienced a seizure in prison early on Thursday following which he was taken to a hospital in the northern city of Nowshahr where he eventually died despite the efforts of the medical staff to save him.
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Rouhi’s body has been sent to a forensic medical examiner for an investigation into the cause of death, including toxicological examinations, Mizan reported. Steps have also been taken to perform an autopsy and collect samples, it added.
Mizan said that the CCTV footage from the prison where Rouhi was held will undergo a review and that his personal belongings, including notes and medications, will be documented.
Rouhi was sentenced to death in January after being convicted of the capital charge of “corruption on earth.”
He was a “leader” of protests in the city of Nowshahr where he committed “significant criminal actions,” the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported at the time.
Rouhi was charged with multiple offences, including destruction of public property and committing apostasy through the burning of a Quran.
Iranian authorities view the demonstrations that followed Amini’s death as “riots” instigated by foreign powers. The protests were met with a violent crackdown by the authorities, resulting in the deaths of hundreds and the arrest of thousands, according to human rights groups.
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