French authorities are investigating as suicide the drowning of an Iranian man in the south-eastern city of Lyon who had said on social media he was going to kill himself to draw attention to the protest crackdown in Iran, reports The Guardian.
Mohammad Moradi, 38, was found in the River Rhône that flows through the centre of Lyon late on Monday, a police source told AFP.
Emergency services intervened but were unable to resuscitate him on the riverbank, the source added.
Moradi had posted a video on Instagram saying he was about to drown himself to highlight the crackdown on protesters in Iran since the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, 22, after her arrest in Tehran for an alleged breach of the country’s strict dress code for women.
“When you see this video, I will be dead,” Moradi said, in halting but comprehensible French.
Lyon prosecutors said they had launched a probe to “verify the theory of suicide, in view in particular of the messages posted by the person concerned on social networks announcing his intention” to take his life.
The incident has shocked the city, with a small rally to remember Moradi taking place on the banks of the Rhône on Tuesday.
Mourners placed candles and wreaths on the riverside railings, an AFP correspondent said.
“Mohammad Moradi killed himself to make the voice of revolution heard in Iran. Our voice is not carried by western media,” said Timothee Amini, of the local Iranian community.