Mehdi Zare Ashkezari

Mehdi Zare Ashkezari was 30 at the time of his death. He was arrested during the national uprising in 2022 and was released after a few hours of torture. He went into a coma after release and died 20 days later. He was a pharmacology student at Bologna University in Italy.

The national uprising of 2022 centered around the “woman, life, freedom” slogan was triggered in response to the murder of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini. The protests began sporadically in several cities and online space but in just a few days it spread to dozens of cities across Iran and the goal of the protesters changed to overthrowing the regime. <symbol-timeline></symbol-timeline>

<coverage-outsourcing id='49222'> <reference source='https://www.radiozamaneh.com/748196/'> He was arrested and tortured for several hours. A month later his friend told Radio Zamaneh: > Mehdi was only arrested for 10 hours. But during this time as he told me, they beat him until they got tired. He went into a coma a few hours after release and was taken to a hospital in Tehran. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='49221'> <reference source='https://twitter.com/justchangingun/status/1610279022105092098?s=20'> Mehdi Zare Ashkezari died at the hospital. According to his friend, the security forces had broken his nose and teeth. A video of his condition was released on social media showing many bruises on his body. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='49220'> <reference source='https://www.khabaronline.ir/news/1714366'> The judiciary's Mizan website denied the news of Mehdi Zare Ashkezari's death due to torture and wrote: > He was wounded during the unrest in Tehran and was transferred to the hospital where he died days later. However, his friend had reported that he was arrested and tortured for 10 hours. There was also a video recorded after his release addressing the Italian embassy authorities, in which he shows his bruises and says in Italian: > Look what they did. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='49223'> <reference source='https://www.radiozamaneh.com/748196/'> His body was buried in Ashkezar in Yazd province. His friend told Radio Zamaneh that the security forces didn't allow them to take his body to the medical examiner for review. He said the family was heavily pressured to call the cause of death of their son "suicide." Two days after they agreed, the body was delivered to the family. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>
<coverage-outsourcing id='49224'> <reference source='https://twitter.com/IranIntl/status/1611009163991056385?s=20'> A memorial was held for Mehdi Zare Ashkezari in Aramestan Ashkezar in Yazd province. Iran International aired videos of the event in which people chant against the state and the leader. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>