Citizen dies in custody of torture in Basra..Police clarifies

Shafaq News/A citizen died yesterday, Tuesday, in custody in Basra after being detained overnight by security forces.

Attorney Saleem Salem al-Khuzaei told Shafaq News Agency that a relative of him, Hisham al-Khozaei, was arrested by the Anti-Crime Department at a checkpoint in the northern entrance of Basra.

The lawyer said that the security forces mistakenly arrested Hisham while pursuing a wanted person with the same name.

"Hisham passed away yesterday, Tuesday, from the gravity of torture he was put through during investigations to extract a confession for a crime he did not commit."

The family of the victim organized a demonstration to demand the circumstances of the demise of Hisham and demanded a transparent investigation into the incident.

In a clarification issued earlier today, the media office of the Basra Police Police department said that the deceased was wanted in accordance with Article 406 of the Penal code for being a suspect in a homicide, refuting social media allegations on "Names similarity".

"The defendant was released on July 27, 2020, after recording his statements, and he was handed over to his family," Basra Police said, "The Basra Governorate Police Directorate is closely following the results of the autopsy from the forensic medicine department on the causes of death. Legal measures will be taken against the negligent."