CNN
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A black-clad Iranian woman stands on high of an overturned rubbish bin, waving her headband as it’s engulfed by flames, amid chants of “death to the dictator.”
A second later, video reveals, she crouches to gather one other scarf, from a good friend, which she can even set on hearth in entrance of the protesters.
The woman was 16-year-old Nika Shahkarami, from Tehran. Just a few hours after these scenes have been recorded on September 20, in movies solely obtained and verified by CNN, Nika went lacking. And a couple of week later, her household realized that she was useless.
Iranian authorities claimed Nika’s physique was discovered in the back of a courtyard on the morning of September 21. Her mom wasn’t given entry to establish her till 8 days later. CCTV footage launched by the authorities timestamped simply after midnight as September 20 grew to become September 21 confirmed the determine of a masked particular person they mentioned was Nika coming into a constructing that was uninhabited, and nonetheless below building in Tehran.
A Tehran prosecutor initially mentioned she died after being thrown from the constructing’s roof, and that her dying “had no connection to the protests” of that day, however regardless of apparently declaring her dying a murder, he didn’t say whether or not there have been suspects below investigation. State broadcasters reported that she “fell,” however didn’t present proof to assist the declare it was an accident.
On Wednesday, after CNN requested the federal government to remark on the proof on this investigation, an Iranian media report quoted a Tehran prosecutor as saying that Nika’s dying was a suicide. Iranian authorities nonetheless haven’t responded to CNN’s repeated inquiries about Nika’s dying.
Authorities by no means defined why Nika would enter that constructing on her personal, and Nika’s mom has mentioned she doesn’t imagine the masked particular person is Nika. Her mom has mentioned she believes Nika was killed by the authorities, however the authorities have by no means mentioned whether or not Nika was of their custody at any level.
But dozens of movies and eyewitness accounts obtained solely by CNN point out that Nika seems to have been chased and detained by Iranian safety forces that night time. One key eyewitness, Ladan, advised CNN she noticed Nika being taken into custody on the protest by “several large-bodied plainclothes security officers” who bundled her right into a automotive.
Moments earlier, this witness, whereas caught in Tehran site visitors, filmed a video that purportedly reveals Shahkarami ducking behind a white automotive and yelling “tekoon nakon, tekoon nakon” – which implies “don’t move, don’t move” – to its driver earlier than working away from the transient shelter it gave her.
Seven individuals who knew Nika and spoke to CNN confirmed it was her. The similar footage, filmed at 8.37 p.m. on September 20, additionally reveals anti-riot police on bikes, patrolling the realm.
“I wanted to save her, but I couldn’t,” mentioned Ladan. “There were about 20 or 30 Basijis on motorcycles on the sidewalk,” she mentioned, utilizing the native title for the paramilitary group that has been on the forefront of the state’s crackdown on protesters.
”Shahkarami was throwing rocks at them. I used to be scared and I even went previous her and mentioned, ‘Be careful dear!’ as a result of there have been quite a few plainclothes police within the streets going by the vehicles on the lookout for her.
“Fifty meters ahead they got her,” Ladan added.
Ladan got here ahead to CNN after realising that {the teenager} she had filmed and spoken to was the one whose dying had been reported days later. CNN solely spoke to a number of witnesses who have been on the Tehran protest on September 20 with the assistance of activist group 1500Tasvir.
Other movies, together with the scarf-burning ones, are proof that Nika was on the forefront of the protests earlier within the night time, earlier than the crackdown began – fearlessly main chants and throwing rocks, in accordance to a number of testimonies.
That would have made her a goal for safety forces, together with members of Iran’s feared Basij militia, as they began to descend into the realm across the University of Tehran and Keshavarz Boulevard the place many of the protesters gathered that night, witnesses mentioned.
“I remember how brave she was because she would go up on the garbage bin and wouldn’t come down. She also burned her head scarf,” mentioned Najmeh, a protester who was with Nika on the demonstration.
CNN is utilizing pseudonyms for the entire witnesses quoted on this investigation, due to the danger to their security.
Students had gathered close to Laleh Park round 5 to 6 p.m. on September 20 to protest the dying of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian lady who died final month in state custody after being detained by the nation’s morality police, allegedly for the way she was dressed.
The scene was one which has turn into acquainted in Tehran in current weeks: younger individuals, principally ladies, chanting “death to the dictator,” burning headscarves and throwing rocks towards safety forces.
At one level, a trash bin was introduced over and overturned to block the street. Nika hopped on high together with a few others, video footage confirmed.
“She burned her head scarf and waved it. I told her not to wave it because you could burn yourself, just hold it until it burns,” mentioned Nima, who was additionally on the protest and noticed the occasions unfold. “Then she took the headscarves of the two friends who were with her and burned those as well.”
In different movies from that night geolocated and verified by CNN, Nika is proven hurling rocks at anti-riot police forces. She’s carrying a particular CAT rucksack and sporting a black masks and hat on her head. Sounds that seem to be gunshots might be heard.
From 7 to 8 p.m., the safety forces’ crackdown intensified, witnesses mentioned. “They were firing tear gas and pellet shots and grabbing protesters. Almost all of us were confronting them and running away,” mentioned Reza, one other witness.
As anti-riot police and Basij forces crammed the streets, protesters began to transfer in all instructions to escape the crackdown.
Another witness, Dina, who spent among the protest strolling alongside Nika, advised CNN she noticed Nika in entrance of a fuel station not removed from the University of Tehran, the place the group of protesters had gathered after fleeing tear fuel launched by the safety forces. Others managed to seize on video these being detained by what appeared to be plainclothes officers.
Reza added: “I saw with my own eyes security forces hitting women with batons, and they grabbed many of them and took them to police vans.”
It is on this context of maximum repression of the protest that Nika was final seen by the witnesses who spoke to CNN – and 9 extra days would move earlier than her household was given official phrase of her whereabouts. Videos verified and geolocated by CNN show that the woman, within the final witness footage offered to CNN exhibiting her alive, was hemmed in by safety forces on three sides.
“I think Nika got stuck that night when we were running away. Because she was very young,” Dina mentioned.
While Iranian authorities insist Nika died on the grounds of that uninhabited constructing, her mom Nasrin advised Etemad, an unbiased Iranian newspaper, in an interview revealed on October 10 that she believes her daughter “was at the protests and killed there.”
Iranian safety forces arrested eight individuals who have been employees within the constructing which Nika allegedly entered a couple of hours after eyewitnesses noticed her on the September 20 protests, state-aligned information company Tasnim reported on October 4. Tehran’s prosecutor Ali Salehi mentioned a judicial prison case had been launched and expressed his condolences to Nika’s household, state run IRNA mentioned.
Mohammad Shahriari, the pinnacle of prison prosecution of Tehran province, initially mentioned Nika’s accidents corresponded with having been “thrown down,” citing an post-mortem that exposed a number of fractures within the space of the pelvis, head, higher and decrease limbs, palms, toes and hip, Tasnim reported.
He added that “an investigation showed this incident had no connection to the protests. No bullet holes were found on the body.”
CNN has repeatedly sought remark from the Iranian authorities on whether or not Nika was detained on the protests that night time and whether or not different ladies have been assaulted and put in police autos. CNN additionally requested the Tehran prosecutor’s workplace concerning the standing of the prison investigation into Nika’s dying. No responses have been acquired prior to the publication of this story.
On Wednesday, the web information outlet Mizan, which is affiliated with Iran’s judiciary, revealed a report saying that Nika’s dying had been a suicide, citing a prosecutor from t
However, a dying certificates first seen by BBC Persian and verified by CNN states that Shahkarami died from a number of accidents attributable to blows with a tough object.
In the Etemad interview, Nasrin mentioned she had spoken by cellphone with Shahkarami many occasions on the day she disappeared. The background noise throughout the calls indicated she and the opposite protesters have been fleeing from safety forces, Nasrin added.
Nika additionally talked about a couple of places she was in – Enghelab Square, Keshavarz Boulevard and Valiasr avenue – in accordance to Nasrin, which match the movies geolocated by CNN.
Nasrin final spoke with her daughter simply earlier than midnight, she mentioned, and after that, all her makes an attempt to name Nika indicated that Nika’s cellphone had been disconnected. Nika’s Instagram and Telegram accounts have been deleted, in accordance to Nika’s aunt and several other protesters who spoke to CNN.
For days, her household says they went to police stations, jails, and hospitals on the lookout for traces of her, all to no avail. Finally, on September 30, Nika’s mom and brother have been requested to establish Nika’s corpse, she advised BBC Persian.
On October 6, in an interview with Radio Farda, Nasrin claimed that whereas she and different family members have been on the lookout for Nika within the days after her disappearance, one particular person gave her Nika’s nationwide ID quantity and advised her “the IRGC got her, they wanted to slowly interrogate her.”
That matches what Shahkarami’s aunt, Atash, told BBC Persian quickly after she disappeared. “An unofficial source from the IRGC themselves got in touch with me and said, this kid was in our custody a week ago, and after we were done interrogating and building the case file, 1 or 2 days ago (she) was transferred to Evin prison,” Atash mentioned.
Atash and Nika’s uncle, Mohsen, have been subsequently arrested by Iranian safety forces and compelled to make a false assertion, according to BBC Persian, citing a supply shut to the household. Following the BBC’s reporting, when reached by CNN, Atash requested not to be contacted once more, citing security issues.
While the household searches for solutions, the individuals who have been with Nika on that day are additionally nonetheless reeling from her dying.
“The situation was very scary, and everyone thought of escaping,” Dina mentioned. “I can’t forgive myself for Nika’s death. She was a child.”
