Distressing footage of a protester being slammed into the ground by a police officer outside the Iranian embassy has sparked an internal probe.
Video posted on social media shows Hamid Sotounzadeh being tackled to the ground and restrained by police in Canberra.
The first-person video shows a police officer and Mr Sotounzadeh yelling at each other, before the officer tells the protester to get back.
It then shows Mr Sotounzadeh replying, “No, I am standing here, this is my right”, before he is tackled.
A subsequent video posted to Instagram shows Mr Sotounzadeh in a hospital bed with a neck brace.
He then opens both his hands, with words written in pen: “I will be back next week” and “IRGG (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) terrorists”.
Mr Sotounzadeh’s friend Ali Beikzadeh, who was at the scene, told AAP legal action was being considered for what he described as “an illegal arrest”.
He said his friend was left with fractures in his lower back, neck and ribs.
Mr Beikzadeh said it was suspicious his friend was arrested on the anniversary of the 44th Islamic Republic revolution despite peacefully protesting for the past 16 weeks.
“The reason why they did it yesterday is exactly the question that’s on the minds of all of us,” he said.
Read the article in AAP News.