According to the statement, 36-year-old Mohammad Mirmousavi, who was taken into custody after getting into a fight and altercation with locals in the village of Naserkiadeh, in the vicinity of the tourist city of Lahijan, misbehaved and provoked the officers to deal with him harshly.
The statement also admits, “The behavior of some law enforcement agents was against the professional policy of the police and is not acceptable in any way, so the personnel were referred to the judicial authorities.”
Iran’s police chief Brigadier General Ahmadreza Radan has suspended the head of the police station and the officers involved in the case, according to the statement.
The issue has caused uproar in the media in the early days of the new administration in Iran.
The death in custody prompted Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian to order the interior minister to form a committee to investigate all aspects of the incident and report the results to the cabinet as soon as possible.
The investigative team were on the scene on Thursday and forensic pathologists have carried out follow-ups to determine the cause of death of the suspect, but the results have not been released yet.
