France 24, 08 November 2012 – France on Thursday called on the Iranian authorities to explain the death in custody of a blogger who, opposition activists say, was killed by torture for criticising the regime on the Internet.
A French foreign ministry spokesman said Paris was “profoundly shocked” to have learned of the death in custody of 35-year-old SattarBeheshti.
“We call 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.”
According to opposition groups, Beheshti’s family were asked on Wednesday to collect his body from the Kahrizak detention centre in Tehran, where he had been held since being arrested on October 30.
In the last blog he wrote before his arrest, Beheshti had said he was being constantly harassed by telephone by members of the security services.
“Yesterday they threatened to tell my mother that she would soon be wearing black if I did not shut up,” he wrote.