Sarina Saedi

Sarina Saedi (October 11, 2007 – October 27, 2022)

Sarina Saedi was a 15-year-old teenage girl who was killed by the security forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran during the 2022 uprising in Iran.

Death

According to the Hengaw Human Rights Organization, Sarina Saedi, a 16-year-old girl from Sanandaj, suffered a brain hemorrhage on October 25, 2022, in the Naysar neighborhood of Sanandaj due to multiple severe baton blows to her head by government forces. She died one day after being hospitalized, on October 27, 2022, at Towhid Hospital in Sanandaj.

Funeral and Reactions

Sarina’s body was transferred to Behesht Mohammadi Cemetery under the escort of two security vehicles, and her funeral was held in a fully secured environment with only a few family members present.

On November 1, 2022, during the seventh-day memorial ceremony for Sarina Saedi, a large number of people attended Behesht Mohammadi Cemetery in Sanandaj. Protesters at her grave chanted slogans such as:

• "Death to Khamenei"
• "For every person killed, a thousand are behind them"
• "Freedom, freedom, freedom"
• "Martyrs do not die"

The speaker at the ceremony also said:
"Sarina! You do not die; you have ignited the fire of this revolution; you have awakened the world and humiliated the enemy."

Threats and Government Claims

Although Towhid Hospital in Sanandaj informed the Saedi family that their daughter had suffered internal bleeding from baton blows to the head, security agencies forced her father, Hashem Saedi, to appear the same night on state television for a coerced confession. They also threatened him that if he did not cooperate, they would not release his daughter’s body.

The Saedi family was also threatened to announce that their daughter had committed suicide—a claim repeated by the Islamic Republic regarding some other children killed in the 2022 protests.

A relative of Sarina described the government threats:
"[When the Saedi family looked at her body, they saw it was completely black and bruised from so much beating… When the security forces arrived, they seized Sarina’s and her father’s mobile phones and have still not returned Sarina’s phone; they even took the contact numbers of some family members present and said, ‘We have your numbers and are monitoring them. If you speak to anyone about this, you will be arrested.’ They were severely threatened; because of this, no one answered their phones for several days and they were terrified."

Father’s Arrest in June 2023

On June 14, 2023, a source close to the Saedi family reported that Hashem Saedi, Sarina’s father, was arrested by security agents while returning from the graves of those killed in Baneh.

See Also

• Human rights violations by the Islamic Republic of Iran
• Violations of children’s rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran
• Violations of women’s rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran
• Victims of the 2022 Iran uprising
• Death of Mahsa Amini