Judiciary Orders Further Inquiries Into Kazemi's Death
The head of the criminal division of the Tehran prosecutor's office, Jaafar Reshadati, has called for clarification "as quickly as possible" of 17 points contained in an official inquiry, AFP reported. Rejecting a report submitted by examining magistrate Javad Esmaili into the circumstances of Zahra Kazemi's death, Reshadati requested the inclusion of "required" documents to "make necessary amendments and finish the inquiry."
It is the latest development in the ongoing saga, which has seen relations between Tehran and Ottawa plummet to an all time low.
Esmaili, appointed to head the inquiry a month after Kazemi died, submitted his report on August 25.
Two Information ministry officials were subsequently charged with complicity in the 54-year-old's "quasi-intentional murder".
Esmaili's superiors had five days to decide whether to uphold or drop the case against the two agents.
But the charges provoked outrage from information ministry. It claimed the prosecutor's office deliberately limited its investigations and even disregarded certain details the ministry had furnished.
Kazemi was arrested on June 23 outside Tehran's Evin prison for taking unauthorized photographs. She died from a brain hemorrhage on July 10.
An official report into her death, ordered by President Mohammad Khatami said she died after a blow to the head received in custody.
Between her arrest and being admitted to hospital four days later, she spent 21 hours with prosecutors, 26 hours with police, a further four hours with prosecutors and a final 26 hours being questioned at the intelligence ministry.
As soon as the official report was released, the information ministry accused prosecutors of "sheer lies" and behaving in an underhand manner.
Just before Reshadati did so, earlier Monday government spokesman Abdullah Ramezanzadeh said the judiciary had ignored documents from the intelligence ministry.