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

Mohammad Fallah

About

Nationality: Iran
Religion: Presumed Muslim
Civil Status: Unknown

Case

Date of Killing: May 9, 1979
Location of Killing: Tehran Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Unspecified execution method
Charges: Collaborating with the political police SAVAK; Corruption on earth; Fighting against the revolution/blocking the path of God; War on God, God's Prophet and the deputy of the Twelfth Imam

About this Case

The execution of Mr. Mohammad Fallah and 5 other individuals was reported in the Kayhan daily on May 9, 1979. Mr. Fallah is also one of the 438 victims listed in a March 13, 1980 Amnesty International report. The report lists defendants who were convicted by Revolutionary Tribunals in the period from their inception until 12 August 1979. The list of victims and charges is drawn from sources including translations of indictments, reports of trials carried out by local and foreign media and the bulletins of the official Pars News Agency reports.

Arrest and detention

No information about the circumstances of this defendant’s arrest and detention is available.

Trial

Based on the Kayhan report, the defendant’s case was examined at one of the branches of the Revolutionary Tribunal of Islamic Justice in Tehran. The report specified that the examination of 6 cases, including this defendant's, at different branches of the Islamic Revolutionary Tribunal took almost a day; while the deliberation amongst the religious judges regarding all of the cases lasted for an hour and a half.

Charges

The indictment of the Public Prosecution Office of the Islamic Revolutionary Tribunal of Tehran described the defendant’s charges as follows: “Mr. Mohammad Fallah, ID number 15010, issued in Tehran, is charged with the following: 1- Waging war against God, God’s Prophet and the representative of the twelfth Imam 2- Corruption on Earth 3- Murder and massacre of freedom-loving people who invite the oppressed mankind to justice and equality 4- Strengthening the anti-Islamic regime of the Shah by exerting pressure and oppression 5- Attempting to corrupt the young and active generation of our Muslim people 6- Blocking the path of God, the path to people’s happiness, the path to perfection and the path that allows the fulfillment of all the wishes of the people. 7- Using Middle Ages style torture against the best offspring of the world”

Evidence of guilt

The indictment, as reported in the Kayhan daily, listed the evidence presented against the defendant as follows: “1- Forthright as well as indirect confessions of the accused during the interrogations 2- Having anti-people positions and serving loyally in the detested Intelligence and Security Organization of the country, which had no aim but the destruction of this people 3- The testimony of the clear conscience of our free and Muslim society who considers these elements anti-God and anti-People” The public prosecutor continued: “Based on the above and considering the Koranic verses, the Hadith of the Saints, and the principles of freedom and justice derived from the Koran, I request that the above-named be punished”

There was no mention of testimonies or evidence regarding specific incidents of murder, torture, intimidation, or corruption involving the defendant during the trial.

Defense

The Kayhan reporter mentioned that following the lecture of the indictment, the Judge asked the accused to stand before the investigative judges and respond to questions. The accused was questioned about his job, his involvement in unspecified clashes with the guerillas, his use of arms to cause fear, his knowledge about the use of torture, and his reasons for not having resigned.

The defendant, talking in his own defense, stated that he had been initially an archivist in the intelligence section of the Police but had been assigned to a patrol team upon joining the Joint Committee because the archives were taken care of by the Intelligence and Security Organization. He also stressed that during his two and a half years of patrolling he had not been involved in any clashes. He referred to several incidents that were mentioned to him during his interrogation and denied any involvement in any of those incidents and denied having made use of a fire arm. The defendant admitted to having participated in the arrest of two people, an un-named girl who was released and a man named Hushmand Khamenei, who was arrested in Esfahan and then sent to Tehran. Mr. Fallah stressed that the latter was armed and had resisted arrest and had tried to shoot him. Mr. Fallah also admitted to having heard later that the arrested person had been killed under torture in Tehran. .But he repeatedly denied having been involved in any armed clashes or having carried a fire arm.

The judge expressed skepticism regarding the veracity of the defendant’s statements and noted that “...if you participated in such arrests and then realized that people died under torture, how come you still joined the Joint Committee in 1977? So you are guilty of complicity in murder. …Would people surrender to you if you didn’t carry arms? …You were terrorizing people. This is being a corruptor. The armed robbers, I call them enemies of God and corruptors and this is the crime of anyone who has arms. You have to say that you regret….”

At last, the presiding judge said: “We know that those who served at the Committee had a thousand different faces: some were tough at interrogations and friendly just an hour later. We also know that there were people at the Committee who had at times served defenseless and innocent people.” The defendant said: “So, don’t you think that there could be some good people at the Committee as well?” The judge said: “No, there couldn’t be. No good person should ever served at the Committee.” As his last defense, the defendant said: “I would like to say again that my joining the Committee was a mistake. If I have committed a sin, I ask forgiveness from God and Imam Hussein. My deeds personally have been good and well-intentioned and I have done nothing to be ashamed of before God and my family. If I have sinned, I did not realize it and I ask the Honorable Court to forgive me”.

Judgment

Dr. Fallah was found guilty of “corruption on earth” and “waging war against God and his Prophet” after this one-session hearing. The death sentence was carried out at 1 a.m., shortly after the issuance of the verdict.

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