Abdorrahman Boroumand Center

for Human Rights in Iran

https://www.iranrights.org
Omid, a memorial in defense of human rights in Iran
One Person’s Story

Naser Shahsavand

About

Age: 37
Nationality: Iran
Religion: Non-Believer
Civil Status: Unknown

Case

Date of Killing: September, 1988
Location of Killing: Iran
Mode of Killing: Hanging
Charges: Apostasy; Counter revolutionary opinion and/or speech

About this Case

The information about Mr. Naser Shahsavand is taken from the book The Martyrs of the Tudeh Party by the Tudeh Party of Iran Publications. Additional information has been drawn from an electronic form sent to Omid by an individual familiar with this case. Mr. Shahsavand was an Air Force officer (specialized in radars and air control traffic tower) and a member of the Tudeh Party.

Mr. Naser Shahsavand is one of the victims in the mass killings of political prisoners in 1988. The majority of the executed prisoners were members of the Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO). In addition to members of those Marxist-Leninist organizations oppose to the Islamic Republic, activists of organizations that were not against the Islamic Republic were also among the victims of these mass killings.

The Tudeh Party of Iran was created in 1941. The Tudeh Party ideology was Marxist-Leninist and it supported the former Soviet Union's policies. The Party played a major role in Iran's political scene until it was banned for the second time following the August 19, 1953 coup. After the 1979 Revolution, the Party declared Ayatollah Khomeini and the Islamic Republic regime revolutionaries and anti-imperialists and actively supported the new government. Although the Party never opposed the Islamic Republic, it became the target of government attacks in 1982 when most of the Party's leaders and members were imprisoned.

Arrest and detention

The exact circumstances of this defendant’s arrest and detention are not known. Mr. Shahsavand was arrested on the way to his work (Mehrabad Airport in Tehran) in May/June 1983. He was detained at the Joint Committee and Evin prison. His first visitation with his family took place some 8 months after arrest in Evin (electronic form).

Trial

Mr. Shahsavand was first tried at a Martial Court, along with 7 other individuals, on January 16, 1984 in the presence of an audience and a few photographers. The Court condemned Mr. Shahsavand to 12 years imprisonment (electronic form).

Specific details on the circumstances of the trials that led to the execution of Mr. Shahsavand and thousands of other individuals in 1988 are not known. According to the available information, the Iranian authorities did not try the victims of the 1988 mass execution in a court with in the presence of a defense lawyer. The prisoners who were executed in 1988 had been questioned by a three-member special committee, composed of a religious judge, a representative of the Intelligence Ministry, and the Tehran Prosecutor. The committee questioned the leftist prisoners about their beliefs and their faith in God and religion.

The relatives of political prisoners executed in 1988 refute the legality of the judicial process that resulted in thousands of executions throughout Iran. In their 1988 open letter to then Minister of Justice Dr. Habibi, they argue that the official secrecy surrounding these executions is proof of their illegality. They note that an overwhelming majority of these prisoners had been tried and sentenced to prison terms, which they were either serving or had already completed serving at the time they were retried and sentenced to death.

Charges

According to the form, Mr. Shahsavand at his first trial was charged with “acting against national security.” No charge was publicly levelled against the defendant. In their letters to the Minister of Justice (1988), and to the UN Special Rapporteur visiting Iran (February 2003), the families of the victims refer to the authorities' accusations against the prisoners – accusations that may have led to their execution. These accusations include being "counter-revolutionary, anti-religion, and anti-Islam," as well as being "associated with military action or with various [opposition] groups based near the borders."

An edict of the Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ruhollah Khomeini, reproduced in the memoirs of Ayatollah Montazeri, his designated successor, corroborates the reported claims regarding the charges against the executed prisoners. In this edict, Ayatollah Khomeini refers to the PMOI's members as "hypocrites" who do not believe in Islam and "wage war against God" and decrees that prisoners who still approve of the positions taken by this organization are also "waging war against God" and should be sentenced to death.

It is possible that the prisoners who were members of other organizations were charged for being "anti-religious" and were condemned for insisting on their beliefs.

Evidence of guilt

The report of this execution contain no evidence provided against the defendant.

Defense

Based on the information of the electronic form, at his first trial, Mr. Shahsavand was denied an attorney and did not have access to his own file. No information is available on his defense at the second trial. In their open letter, the families of the prisoners note that defendants were not given the opportunity to defend themselves in court. Against the assertion that prisoners were associated with guerrilla forces operating near the borders, the families submit the isolation of their relatives from the outside during their detention: "Our children lived in most difficult conditions. Visits were limited to 10 minutes behind a glass divider through a telephone every two weeks. We witnessed, over the past seven years, that they were denied access to anything that would have allowed them to establish contacts outside their prisons' walls." Under such conditions the families reject the claim of the authorities that these prisoners were able to engage with the political groups outside Iran.

Judgment

No specific information is available about the defendant’s execution. According to available information, leftist prisoners executed in 1988 were found to be “apostates.” Mr. Naser Shahsavand was hanged during the mass killings of political prisoners in September, 1988 (the Tudeh book). Months after the executions, prison authorities informed the families about the executions and handed in the victims’ belongings to their families. The bodies, however, were not returned to them. The bodies were buried in mass graves. Authorities warned the families of prisoners against holding memorial ceremonies.

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