The family of a 17-year-old who was fatally shot during protests in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad is outraged after the military prosecutor's office decided to close the investigation into his death without coming to a conclusion.
Abolfazl Adinehzadeh was killed during nationwide unrest following the September 2022 death of Mahsa Amini while in the custody of Iran's morality police.
Khosrow Alikordi, a legal representative of the family, said on November 6 that the military prosecutor of Khorasan Razavi Province found insufficient evidence to prove that military or law enforcement firearms were used and led to Adinehzadeh death, prompting the dismissal of the case.
The Adinehzadeh family has stated several times that they believe special forces in Mashhad are responsible for their son's death. Despite their efforts, they have been denied access to surveillance footage that could potentially shed light on the incident, with authorities claiming technical failures or a lack of coverage for the absence of video.
Adinehzadeh was one of hundreds of casualties during protests that erupted following the death of Amini, a 22-year-old woman who had been detained for an alleged head-scarf violation. The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) says more than 500 people have been killed during the unrest, including 71 minors, as security forces try to stifle widespread dissent.
Thousands of demonstrators across Iran were detained during protests.
In June, Adinezadeh's father and sister were charged with "anti-government propaganda" for their comments during media interviews and social media posts over Abolfazl Adinehzadeh's death, according to their family lawyer, Alikordi.
In addition, the family has reportedly been under pressure since Abolfazl's death, with their home being subjected to multiple raids by security forces.
Tensions between the government and the families of those killed or arrested in the nationwide protests have been on the rise in recent weeks.
The government has been accused of stepping up the pressure on the victims' families through collective arrests and the summoning of grieving families by security agencies with the aim of keeping them from commemorating the lives of their loved ones, which the government fears will trigger more unrest.