Victim Accounts: Danial Barekati, 22, protester killed; body found 3 days later

The source told IHRNGO: “Danial was born into a religious family, but he was not a supporter of the Islamic Republic. On the evening of 8 January, after speaking with his mother by phone, he left home. At first, the family thought he was staying with a relative, but after a full day without news, concerns over his disappearance became serious.”

“On 9 January, by tracking Danial’s mobile phone, his car was found in the Theranpars, east area of Tehran,” the source added: “his phone and jacket were inside the vehicle. CCTV footage from nearby cameras showed that he had parked the car that night, changed his clothes, put on a mask and walked to where the protest was happening.”

According to the informed source, in the following days the family visited police stations and detention centres across Tehran but found no trace of Danial. Three days later (Sunday, 11 January), his body was identified in Kahrizak (the Legal Medicine Organisation) among other corpses.

The source continued: “The family were told that the cause of death was stabbing. However, they were not allowed to see any part of his body except his face, although they observed signs of a gunshot wound.”

The source further stated that the release of Danial’s body was subject to conditions: “Including declaring that Danial had a prior membership in the Basij (paramilitary branch of IRGC) and burying him in a designated plot next to his grandfather’s grave. The family held the funeral under the presence and supervision of security forces and were not permitted to speak publicly about Danial's killing.”

According to the source close to the Barekati family, following Danial’s killing, pressures and tensions also arose within the family: “Some relatives who are close to the authorities attempted, through threats against other family members, to impose a particular narrative of Danial’s killing; namely that he had been a supporter of the government. However, Danial’s parents have strongly rejected this claim.”