Mohsen Rouholamini

Mohsen Rouhalamini (20 May 1984 – July 2009) was a graduate student in the computer engineering department at the University of Tehran.^[1] He died in July 2009 at the Kahrizak detention center following his arrest in connection with protests of the 2009 presidential election in Iran. Rouhalamini was the son of Abdolhossein Rouhalamini,^[2] a prominent Iranian conservative and adviser to presidential candidate Mohsen Rezai.

Death

Rouhalamini was arrested on 9 July 2009 in connection with protests over the 2009 presidential election in Iran and reportedly taken to the Kahrizak detention center.^[2] Two weeks later he was taken to a hospital where he died.^[2] His family reported that he died of cardiac arrest and bleeding in his lungs, and that "his face had been smashed." Police initially suggested that his death was caused by meningitis,^[3] but according to the semiofficial Mehr news agency, an Iranian medical examiner found that he had died of "physical stress, the effects of being held in bad conditions, multiple blows and severe injuries to the body."^[4]

According to human rights groups, he was one of "at least three protesters" to die after being detained at Kahrizak, but his father's influence has drawn attention to the issue of abuse of protest prisoners, as "conservative Iranian lawmakers and politicians" expressed anger over the death.^[2] Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is reported to have ordered an investigation into his death, and soon afterwards to have ordered the closure of Kahrizak.^[5]

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