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Iranian activist, Haleh Sahabi, dies in a fight with authorities
Iranian activist, Haleh Sahabi, 56, died yesterday (1 June) after a scuffle with Iranian security personnel during her father’s funeral procession. Sahabi died in hospital after apparently suffering a heart attack. The regime tightly controls opposition funerals to ensure they do not become a catalyst for protests. Sahabi was a women’s rights activist, and government opponent like her father, Ezatollah Sahabi, 81, who founded one of Iran’s first independent papers, Iran-é-Farda. She was sentenced to a two year prison term for protesting during President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s swearing-in ceremony in August 2009. Sahabi was released on furlough from jail to attend to her ailing father.