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

Mas'ud Farzaneh

About

Age: 20
Nationality: Iran
Religion: Non-Believer
Civil Status: Unknown

Case

Date of Killing: June, 1981
Location of Killing: Esfahan, Esfahan Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Unspecified execution method
Charges: Homosexual act; Participating in an anti-regime demonstration; Sedition and/ or threat to public security; Counter revolutionary opinion and/or speech; Corruption on earth; Actively opposing the Islamic Republic; Printing/distributing leaflets

About this Case

The execution of Mr. Mas’ud Farzaneh, son of Ali, from Masjed Soleiman (Khuzestan province) and resident of Esfehan, along with another individual, was announced in the Jomhuri Eslami on June 28, 1981. He is also is one of the 12028 individuals listed in an addendum to the Mojahed magazine (No 261), published by Mojahedin Khalq Organization in 1985. The list includes individuals, affiliated with various opposition groups, who were executed or killed during clashes with the Islamic Republic security forces from June 1981 to the publication date of the magazine. Mr. Farzaneh was a sympathizer of the Fadaiyan Khalq Organization.

The Fadaiyan Khalq Organization, a Marxist Leninist group inspired by the Cuban Revolution and the urban guerilla movements of Latin America, was founded in 1971 by two communist groups opposed to the Pahlavi regime. Following the 1979 revolution, the Organization, which had renounced armed struggle, split over their support of the Islamic Republic and of the Soviet Union. The Fadaiyan Khalq Minority opposed the Islamic Republic and was active mainly in the political arena and the labor movement. It is not clear whether or not Mr. Farzaneh belonged to this branch of the Organization.

Arrest and detention

The circumstances of this defendant’s arrest and detention are not known.

Trial

According to the news report, Branch 5 of the Islamic Revolutionary Tribunal of Esfehan held several sessions to examine the defendant’s case. No other information is available about the trial.

Charges

Based on Jomhuri Eslami, the charges brought against Mr. Farzaneh were: “active membership of the Fadaiyan Khalq Organization, activism in demonstrations, disrupting public order, causing insecurity and mistrust, transportation of confidential letters of the Organization, distribution of counter-Revolutionary leaflets, as well as active and passive roles in the act of sodomy”.

The validity of the criminal charges brought against this defendant cannot be ascertained in the absence of the basic guarantees of a fair trial. International human rights organizations have drawn attention to reports indicating that the Islamic Republic’s authorities have brought trumped-up charges against their political opponents and executed them for drug trafficking, sexual, and other criminal offences. The exact number of people convicted based on trumped-up charges is unknown.

Evidence of guilt

The report of this execution mentions “reading the evidence documented in the file and hearing the confessions of the accused.” No further information is available.

International human rights organizations have repeatedly condemned the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran for its systematic use of severe torture and solitary confinement to obtain confessions from detainees and have questioned the authenticity of confessions obtained under duress. In the case of political detainees, these confessions are, at times, televised. The National Television broadcasts confessions during which prisoners plead guilty to vague and false charges, repent and renounce their political beliefs, and/or implicate others. Human rights organizations have also pointed to the pattern of retracted confessions by those prisoners who are freed.

Defense

The news report states that the Tribunal delivered the verdict, having heard the defense of the accused. No other information is available about the defense.

Judgment

Branch 5 of the Islamic Revolutionary Tribunal of Esfehan condemned Mr. Mas’ud Farzaneh to death as a “corruptor on earth.” According to the Mojahed magazine, he was executed by a firing squad on June 28, 1981.

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