Iranian Protester Thrown Out Of Window Dies After Falling Into Coma

An Iranian protester who fell into a coma after being thrown from a window by security forces has died in hospital, activists say.

The opposition activist collective 1500tasvir said that Hossein Al-Ali remained in a coma for a week before passing away on March 21.

Al-Ali was rushed to hospital a week ago after security forces stormed the apartment in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas where he was hiding and threw him from the fourth floor of the building.

Sources close to the family said he had actively participated in nationwide protests in 2021 and 2022.

He had been living in hiding for the last two months because he was being sought by the authorities, his relatives said.

Al-Ali was originally from the central city of Shiraz. For the past few years, he had been living in Bandar Abbas where he owned a café.

The funeral was scheduled to take place on March 23 at Saadi cemetery in Shiraz.

Al-Ali’s death comes amid a brutal crackdown by the authorities on widespread protests demanding fundamental economic, social and political changes in the country.

The protest movement, triggered by the September 2022 death of a young woman in police custody, poses one of the most serious challenges to the theocracy installed by the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Security forces have killed more than 520 people and detained over 20,000 since the demonstrations began, activists say. Following biased trials, the judiciary has handed down stiff sentences, including the death penalty, to protesters.