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An Iranian teenager who fell into a coma earlier this month after being approached by police officers for violating Islamic veil law has died brain dead, Iranian state media reported on Sunday (22).
Human rights groups such as the KurdishIranian Hengaw were the first to publicize Armita Geravand’s hospitalization, posting on social media photos of the 16yearold girl unconscious, with a breathing tube and a bandage on her head, connected to equipment that she kept alive. The Portal news agency could not independently verify the images.
“Updates on Geravand’s current health status indicate that his braindead state appears to be safe despite the efforts of the medical team,” state media reported.
Iran denies that Geravand was injured after a clash with police enforcing mandatory Islamic dress code in the Tehran subway on October 1.
There are concerns among human rights activists that Geravand could suffer the same fate as Mahsa Amini, who died in the custody of Iran’s morality police in September 2022 after being arrested in Tehran for allegedly not wearing the hijab, the Islamic veil, in the correct form had worn.
Mahsa’s death sparked the largest wave of protests in the country since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The acts became one of the boldest challenges to Iran’s clerical rulers, who responded to the mobilizations with widespread repression. Such was the impact of the case that this month Mahsa was posthumously honored with the Sakharov Prize, an award given by the European Parliament in defense of human rights.
Iran’s theocratic establishment has imposed restrictions on women’s clothing since a popular revolution that deposed the secular, Westernbacked Shah in 1979. Women are required by law to cover their hair and wear long, loosefitting clothing.
Violators face public reprimand, fines or prison sentences. Since Mahsa’s death, more women across the country have appeared veiled in public places such as malls, restaurants and shops to defy strict Islamic dress codes.
Also on Sunday, an Iranian court sentenced two journalists to long prison terms for their professional reporting on Mahsa’s death in custody. Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported that Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi were sentenced to 13 and 12 years in prison, respectively, on charges including colluding with the US government and violating national security. The two journalists’ lawyers rejected the allegations.
“They received seven and six years in prison, respectively, for collaborating with the enemy government of the United States. They then each received five years in prison for violating national security and one year in prison for antiestablishment propaganda,” he told IRNA.
Hamedi was arrested after he took a photo of Mahsa’s parents hugging in a Tehran hospital where their daughter was in a coma, and Mohammadi after he covered Mahsa’s funeral in her Kurdish hometown of Saqez, where the protests began.
IRNA reported that the “issued judgments” could be appealed. If confirmed, the time the women have already spent in Evin Prison, where most political prisoners are held, would be deducted from their sentences, according to legal news agency Mizan.
In a statement released by Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence in October last year, Mohammadi and Hamedi were accused of serving for the American intelligence agency CIA.
“There is documented evidence of deliberate associations of Hamedi and Mohammadi with certain organizations and individuals affiliated with the United States government,” Mizan reported.