Iran's Vice-President Mohammad Ali Abtahi said Wednesday that Canadian-Iranian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, who died in custody in the Islamic Republic earlier this month, was probably murdered.
"The high possibility is that her murder was caused by a hemorrhage caused by a blow (to the head)," Abtahi, who is in charge of legal and parliamentary affairs, told reporters, according to Reuters.
It marked the first public admission by an Iranian official that Kazemi, who died on July 10, was probably killed while in custody.
54-year-old Kazemi, who was working for Canada’s Camera Press journal, was arrested while taking photos of the Evin prison compound in Iran last month.
An initial government inquiry found that Kazemi died of a brain hemorrhage caused by a blow to the skull. However, it did not establish whether the blow was deliberate or who might have caused it.
In the meantime, five security agents have been arrested in connection with the case, which has sparked a diplomatic row between Canada and Iran.
On Wednesday, Kazemi's mother was quoted as saying she buried her daughter in Iran against her will. Kazemi was buried in her birthplace Shiraz last week. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
