The image released showing the arrest and beating of a teenager in Tabriz is not only about one arrest. What is seen in these images raises a bigger question: when a child is handed over to the police, how should the law treat him?

In the published images, we see a teenager who during the arrest is met with violence and humiliating behavior by the officers. Beating and injury, insults, and treatment in the course of which his clothes are pulled down and his body is touched cannot be considered a normal part of the arrest process of a child.

After the publication of these images, the Islamic Republic has tried to present another version of the incident by bringing charges against the teenager.

But these charges do not change the main issue. The government’s official narrative cannot, by itself, replace independent investigation, and more importantly, even if a child has committed an error or a crime, no officer has the right to hit him, humiliate him, or handle his body in such a way.

A child is still a child, even when he is accused.

Read more details on the Iran International website.