Samad Bargi-Nia

Samad Bargi-Nia (July 16, 1970 – September 29, 2022)

Samad Bargi-Nia, a 52-year-old resident of Piranshahr and father of two, was among those wounded during the public protests in the city in September 2022. On the evening of Tuesday, September 20, 2022 (29 Shahrivar 1401 in the Iranian calendar), amid widespread protests that had erupted following the state killing of Jina—Mahsa Amini, he was shot by government forces. Nine days later, on October 1, 2022, he died at Khomeini Hospital in Urmia as a result of the severity of his injuries.
That night, the streets of Piranshahr had become a scene of public protest. The sound of people’s voices was mingled with the sound of gunfire, as government forces sought to suppress the demonstrations with firearms and shotgun ammunition. That same night, 16-year-old Zakaria Khayal was also killed after being struck by live ammunition fired by government forces.
Samad Bargi-Nia was severely wounded during those protests. According to available accounts, security forces opened fire on him, and numerous pellets struck his head and eyes. Reports concerning his condition stated that 52 shotgun pellets had struck his body. His injuries were so severe that he was immediately transferred to Khomeini Hospital in Urmia.
But what happened to Samad did not end with the moment the bullets struck him. According to published reports, after he was wounded, he was also severely beaten by government forces—a detail that adds another layer of brutality to that night and to the suffering he endured in the days that followed.
Samad remained hospitalized from September 20 until October 1. Nine days passed between the shooting and his death—nine days between the hope that he might survive and the worsening of injuries that had left his condition critical.
Finally, on September 29, 2022, Samad Bargi-Nia, a 52-year-old father of two, died at Khomeini Hospital in Urmia. In reports concerning the forensic medical examination, the cause of death was described as a blow from a hard object to the head, while accounts of the incident described dozens of shotgun pellets striking his head and eyes, as well as severe beatings after he had been wounded.
Samad’s death came at a time when protests were still continuing across Kurdistan and other parts of Iran. Following the killing of Jina—Mahsa Amini, cities including Saqqez, Sanandaj, Divandarreh, Dehgolan, Bukan, Kermanshah, Ilam, Marivan, Mahabad, Abdanan, Naqadeh, and Sardasht had also become scenes of protest and repression. During the first days of the uprising, the use of live ammunition by government forces against protesters resulted in the deaths and injuries of numerous people.
Samad Bargi-Nia was among those who carried the wounds of those days—a wound that, after nine days, ultimately claimed his life.
On Thursday, September 29, 2022, Samad Bargi-Nia was laid to rest at Imamzadeh Saleh Cemetery in Nimvar, in Markazi Province. According to published reports, his funeral was held under pressure and in the presence of security forces.
Samad Bargi-Nia is remembered as a 52-year-old father and family man. Yet from the night of September 20, 2022, his name became part of a larger story: the story of people who took to the streets of Piranshahr to protest; the story of gunfire and grievous injury; and the story of nine days spent struggling against wounds that, in the end, his body could not survive.
Samad Bargi-Nia died on September 29, 2022. But those nine days between the shooting and his death became an inseparable part of his life story—a story remembered by his family and loved ones as that of a 52-year-old father, and remembered in the history of those protests as the story of one of the wounded who ultimately lost his life.