No One Has Courage to Say the Truth

Hours after one member of the special Majlis committee to investigate post-election events announced that the “Death of Kahrizak detention facility’s doctor does not need investigation,” speaking to Rooz, the family of the doctor, Ramin Pourandarjani, criticized the treatment and contradictory statements of officials.  They insisted that this young doctor absolutely did not commit suicide but that no one has the courage to say the truth.

 

Hardline Majlis lawmaker, Farhad Tajari, said yesterday, “In our view, the death of the Kahrizak detention facility’s doctor is clear and does not need investigation,” claiming, “He used pills in the past and probably suffered poisoning from using those pills, and we see no need for the Majlis to spend time on these kinds of instances.”

 

Reacting to this remark, Rezagholi Pourandarjani, Ramin Pourandarjani’s father, criticized the contradictory statements of officials yesterday in an interview with Rooz: “First they said it was a heart attack, then they brought up suicide, then they said poisoning and still they haven’t given us a clear answer.”

 

Mr. Pourandarjani said that the family of this young doctor had filed a complaint: “We filed a complaint in Tehran to clarify the issue of Ramin’s murder.  My son’s case is at the Tehran criminal court but nothing has happened so far.”

 

He added, “No official has yet contacted us to investigate this.  When we were filing our complaint at the criminal court we were able to see the judge once and speak to him, but after that no one contacted us and they haven’t given us an answer yet either.”

 

When asked how he intends to follow up on Ramin’s murder mystery, Ramin Pourandarjani’s father said, “How can we follow up when they don’t give any answers and don’t investigate it.”

 

Mr. Pourandarjani clarified, “If they wanted to give an answer and investigate, they would have done it by now.  They don’t want to give any answers and we only depend on God for help because we don’t have anyone to help and no one is willing to investigate.” 

 

He added, “The biggest blow was that our son was destroyed, and what answer do they now have to give us?”

 

Ramin Pourandarjani’s mother also spoke to Rooz and reiterated her previous claim that Ramin was not the kind of person to commit suicide.

 

Saying that “God must give us justice,” she said, “No one has the courage to say the truth and to say what happened, because everyone knows that my son did not commit suicide.”

 

Mrs. Pourandarjani said about Farhad Tajari’s comment, “I have left him and others who tell lies about Ramin to God.”

 

Conflicting Statements by Majlis Lawmakers

 

While Farhad Tajari said that the “Death of Kahrizak detention facility’s doctor does not need investigation,” conservative Majlis deputy Ali Motahari had previously said that “members of the Majlis committee related to Kahrizak have prepared their report on the Kahrizak detention facility doctor’s death to be read on the Majlis floor.” 

 

The fate of the report remains unknown.  On the other hand, according to other reports, the head of Tehran police department’s health department, who served as Ramin’s superior, appeared at the Majlis health committee to respond to questions about Ramin’s death.  No report has yet been published about the content of his remarks.

 

Yesterday’s claims by Farhad Tajari are announced while Masoud Pezeshkian, lawmaker from Tabriz and former president Khatami’s health minister, has repeatedly denied the heart attack and suicide theories, calling on the coroner’s office to reveal the cause of death of this young doctor.

 

He had emphasized that the suspicious murder mystery will be investigated by the judiciary and coroner’s office until the precise cause of death is revealed.  In his latest remarks, Dr. Pezeshkian said that the coroner’s office had not yet responded to his request about the cause of death of Dr. Pourandarjani.