Ramin says that his mother was forced to commit in writing not to speak to the media. “They threatened her by saying she would be imprisoned, too.” He added that his family has previously been threatened. “Similar threats of harming my dad had previously been issued from authorities and forced us to keep silent while he was in custody,” he wrote.

Emami was arrested on January 24th and died on February 9th. According to Iran’s judiciary, Emami confessed and then committed suicide, but gave no further information regarding his confession.

An official statement dated February 14th was issued by Ramin, which said, “We have the right to know why my father was arrested and under what circumstances he died. Such a right is guaranteed by the country’s laws. We will use every legal channel at our disposal toward holding an independent investigation.”

On February 12th Ramin was allowed to view his father’s body, but the family’s lawyers were not permitted to join him, nor was the autopsy report made available.

The issue was taken to court, and only Ramin was shown a video purportedly of the suicide. “I was the only member of the family to see the video,” he said. “I want to stress this point because rumors have spread that my uncle has also seen it. None of my uncles has spoken to the media, and any statement to this effect is null and void.”

Tasnim new agency had cited one of Ramin’s uncles, Kamran Seyed-Emami, as saying, “Along with my late brother’s wife, we saw his dead body and on the insistence of the prosecutor-general thoroughly inspected it but saw nothing suspicious. We saw only the traces of being hanged, which is also clearly documented in the prison’s CCTV video. It was obvious that my brother had hanged himself.”

Ramin maintains that the footage is inconclusive. “The actual death is not recorded,” he said. “All I could see was my dad in a nervous and restless condition going into a bathroom where we were told he then hanged himself.” He stressed, “Our family’s wish first and foremost is to know why my father was arrested, the details of his interrogation, and to see any files associated with this case.”

Emami was buried at Amameh Cemetery, 40 kilometers (roughly 25 miles) north of Tehran, on February 13th.