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This Is Why

'Fear and intimidation' – the tactics of Iran's secret police

This Is Why

Sky News

News, Daily News, News Commentary

4.0552 Ratings

🗓️ 25 November 2022

⏱️ 26 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

State secret police have been accused of abducting and killing civilians on the street of Iran, a country where hundreds of people have died and violence continues to escalate during protests which have been raging for 10 weeks.

On the Sky News Daily, Niall Paterson is joined by Victoria Elms and Sanya Burgess from Sky News’ digital investigations team which has carried out a special investigation into CCTV footage of a murder, carried out in broad daylight, seemingly by Iran's feared secret police. Plus, Iranian historian Ali Ansari on the government's plan to spread terror in the population to consolidate its own control.

Podcast producer- Rosie Gillott
Junior podcast producer – Jada-Kai Meosa John
Interviews producer – Alys Bowen
Digital producer - David Chipakupaku
Editor - Philly Beaumont

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Masa Amini. Now that is a name that I'm sure many of you will be familiar with, but if not,

0:07.5

she was a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman. She was visiting Iran's capital Tehran with her family.

0:13.9

It was there she encountered the Morality Police, who arrested her for the crime

0:19.2

while of not wearing her headscarf properly.

0:22.7

Three days later, still in custody, she was dead.

0:26.8

And evidence exists that she was beaten and tortured.

0:31.1

Because of all that, huge protests erupted across the country that continued to this very day.

0:39.8

Now, a name that you probably won't recognise,

0:42.4

but I hope that by the end of the episode you'll remember.

0:45.6

Motileb Saeed Piru.

0:47.7

He was murdered in broad daylight in October in the north of the country.

0:51.1

The state says he was a rioter, killed by unknown individuals. But a special

0:56.1

investigation by Sky's data and forensics unit casts, well, significant doubt over that version of

1:01.5

events. It also sheds light on the tactics used by the Iranian regime to try and suppress the

1:07.0

dissent, the uprising, taking place in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

1:12.6

Today, we bring you the story behind that investigation. I'm Neil Patterson, and you're listening

1:18.1

to the Sky News Daily.

1:22.3

Well, there isn't a complete news blackout in Iran, but as near as damn it. Take, for example,

1:27.2

international reporters.

1:28.3

They are not allowed to enter the country. Those journalists that remain operate under supervision.

1:33.7

And as for the regime and its control over the internet, well, it's almost complete.

1:37.1

They can switch it on and off as they like.

...

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