Sayed Mahdi Mousavi, a deaf Afghan migrant living in Ab-e-Sard, Damavand, Tehran province, was subjected to violence and assault by the police on Monday, August 5, 2024, while he was on his way to work with his mommy.
Mohajir Times: In a video released to the media, Sayed Mahdi Mousavi, a 16-year-old Afghan migrant, is shown being insulted and physically assaulted by police officers. This incident occurred on August 5, 2024, in the village of Ab-e-Sard, Damavand, a suburb of Tehran. The video shows an officer in official uniform and plainclothes soldiers throwing Mahdi to the ground and beating him.
In the video, the military officer is seen forcefully pressing his knee on the neck of this migrant while Mahdi is struggling to breathe and screaming with his last breaths. The video also shows some women, including Mahdi's mother, who are relatives of Sayed Mahdi, screaming as well.
In the latest update and interview with Sayed Mahdi Mousavi's brother and his mother, they stated that he is still in shock and in poor condition. In the interview, Sayed Mahdi Mousavi's brother said: “My brother Mahdi encountered the police at 7 a.m. on Monday, August 5, 2024, while he was on his way to work. The police, without asking for his documents, told him to get into the patrol car. Because Mahdi has hearing problems, he did not understand their words, and the police dragged him to the ground and...”
Sayed Mahdi's brother, added: “Mahdi is 16 years old and wears hearing aids, one of which was crushed underfoot. Mahdi is now in shock, and his health conditions is so poor. I appeal to the authorities to investigate this matter.” Additionally, in a sorrowful interview with tearful eyes, Sayed Mahdi's mother said: “They brutally beat my son in front of my eyes. No matter how much I pleaded with them to stop, but they didn't. When I threw myself over my son, they beat me too. They beat my son severely and...”
This unlawful police violence against an Afghan migrant has sparked numerous reactions in the media and online, with some users comparing this violence to the killing of George Perry Floyd in the United States. George Floyd, an African-American, was killed in May 2020 during an arrest when a white officer named Derek Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd's neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Floyd's death led to widespread protests condemning police violence and brutality, particularly against Black people, in the USA and worldwide. So far, Iranian law enforcement officials and relevant authorities have not made any official or serious statements regarding this incident.
Meanwhile, Naseer Ahmad Faiq, the head of Afghanistan's representation at the United Nations, described the Iranian police's behavior towards Afghan migrants as contrary to accepted global principles and migration laws. In response to this incident, Mr. Faiq wrote on his account on X: “The behavior and actions of the Islamic Republic of Iran's police towards Afghan refugees and migrants, especially those with legal documents, are against accepted international principles and migration laws. Faiq stated that the torture of an Afghan teenager by the police in Damavand, Iran, is inhumane and un-Islamic.”
Naseer Ahmad also thanked Iran for hosting millions of Afghan migrants and urged Iranian authorities to take necessary measures to prevent such incidents from recurring.
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