Arashk Gheysar-Beygi, a 15-year-old high school student, was released on bail of 10 billion Iranian rials – nearly 20,000 USD – on 25 July after 27 days in detention at the Juvenile Detention Centre of Ilam.
Gheysar-Beygi was arrested after being summoned to appear in court in Sarableh, Ilam province, on 29 June. He was arrested on the public prosecutor’s orders and transferred to the Juvenile Detention Centre of Ilam after appearing in court with his father.
According to an informed source, the authorities told Gheysar-Beygi’s family that their child would only be released if his older brother, Arshia Gheysar-Beygi, is turned in to the Ministry of Intelligence.
The source revealed that the child was taken to the Ministry of Intelligence detention centre in Ilam for interrogation on several occasions, adding that security forces blindfolded the child for long hours, subjected him to electric shocks, and physically abused him.
As a result of this torture, the source said, he was forced to make false “confessions” against himself.
Arashk Gheysar-Beygi had previously been summoned by the Sarableh police intelligence service on multiple occasions last year.
Security forces also attempted to arrest the family’s 17-year-old son, Arshia Gheysar-Beygi, but were unsuccessful as he was not at home during a raid on 30 June.
Arshia was arrested by security forces in October 2022 during the “Woman, Life, Freedom” uprising in Sarableh and released after ten days in prison.
Last month, the Ministry of Intelligence in Ilam launched a new round of arrests in the city on the pretext that people were holding anti-government protests in the city as part of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” uprising.
Six civilians, including Mehrad Gheysar-Beygi, the uncle of the detained child, were arrested during this period.
