Iran: At least 3 demonstrators believed to have been killed in custody amid violent crackdown on anti-government protests

BBC News reported on Jan. 8, 2018 that a 22-year-old man arrested during the anti-government protests in Iran has died in Evin prison in the capital, Tehran, according to two Iranian regime MPs.
The young man’s name was Sina Qanbari who the Iranian regime claims he has committed suicide.
Sina was among more than 1,000 people arrested during demonstrations which swept Iran over the past two weeks.
An article published by the Guardian reported on Tuesday, January 9, 2018 that at least 3 prisoners have died while in custody. The name and information about 2 of them have not been published yet.
This has caused deep concern among human rights organizations leading them to anticipate ill treatment of the detainees leading to their deaths.
At least 21 people were killed in the protests, which erupted over the state of the economy but spiralled into anger against the country’s leadership.
Iranian regime’s MP Tayebeh Siavoshi said that she learned of the protester’s suicide from officials in the intelligence ministry and security forces.
She was quoted by the ILNA news agency as saying he was 22, but did not name him.
On Monday, a group of Iranian social media users launched a campaign calling for clarity on the conditions that led to the death of the young protester, ILNA reports.
The authorities imposed restrictions on some social media platforms during the protests.
The government has lifted restrictions it imposed on Instagram, one of the social media tools used to mobilize protesters. However access to the more widely used messaging app, Telegram, is still blocked, Reuters news agency reports.
The government had said the restrictions would be temporary.
The unrest – the largest of its kind since a disputed presidential election in 2009 – initially began over price rises and corruption, but quickly spiralled into a wider display of animosity towards the government and ruling clerics.
Some reports put the number of people arrested since 28 December as high as 1,700.