Iran arrests 3 policemen for ‘violent’ arrest of woman

Three Iranian police officers were arrested in Tehran on Sunday, according to official media, following an outcry over a video that appeared to show the officers forcibly arresting a lady.

“The police officers who violently arrested a young woman in Lavasan in eastern Tehran have been detained,” the government-run Iran newspaper reported.

In recent days, a short video on social media in Iran has aroused outrage, showing three police officers dragging a woman into a police car. The occurrence occurred at an unknown time.

In the footage, a woman is seen screaming as she pleads to a man in civilian clothing, who pushes her to the ground in front of a police officer and another man in uniform.

During the incident, a “plainclothes policeman hits the hand of the young woman” and “forces her into the vehicle while threatening her”, the paper added.

Tehran Deputy Police Commander Morad Moradi called the officers’ behavior “violent” and “contrary to police instructions”, but said the woman was suspected of drug possession.

Colonel Moradi said police became suspicious of the passengers of a vehicle after it began moving erratically, reported the Young Journalists Club, an agency affiliated with the state broadcaster.

The police attempted to stop them, but two women who were in the car — including the one who appeared in the video — fled without heeding the order and later resisted arrest, he added.

According to the colonel, a case was opened after “quantities of marijuana” were discovered in the “confiscated” vehicle.

General Hossein Rahimi, the capital’s police head, ordered a probe into the woman’s detention on Saturday, according to state news agency IRNA.