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

Soraya Behnam

About

Age: 17
Nationality: Iran
Religion: Islam
Civil Status: Single

Case

Date of Killing: December 26, 1981
Location of Killing: Mashhad, Khorasan\Khorasan-e Razavi Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Shooting
Charges: Attempt to assassinate or assassination of state dignitaries; Living in safe houses; Membership of anti-regime guerilla group; Participating in an anti-regime demonstration; Participating in clashes with revolutionary guards and or Bassij brothers; Possession of arms; Sexual Offense

About this Case

The execution of Ms. Soraya Behnam Baqerzadeh, daughter of Yusef, along with 20 other individuals, was announced in a communiqué of the Public Relations department of the Central Islamic Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office and published in the Jomhuri Eslami newspaper on December 30, 1981. Ms. Behnam Baqerzadeh is also 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.

The 21 executed individuals were sympathizers and members of the Mojahedin Khalq Organization. The communiqué of the Prosecutor’s Office begins with this verse of the Koran: “Verily, the hypocrites shall be in the lowest depth of the fire” [4: 145].

Arrest and detention

The circumstances of Ms. Behnam Baqerzadeh’s arrest and detention are not known.

Trial

There is no information regarding this trial.

Charges

The personal charge brought against Ms. Behnam Baqerzadeh is not known. She and 11 other individuals were collectively charged with: “membership of the military-political division of the Hypocrites, participation in several assassinations, causing armed clashes, participation in illegal demonstrations and identification of individuals, activities in safe houses and houses of corruption, throwing Molotov Cocktails and setting buses on fire, causing explosions with gas and grenades, possessions and carrying arms.”

The validity of the criminal charges brought against this defendant cannot be ascertained in the absence of the basic guarantees of a fair trial.

Evidence of guilt

No information is available concerning the evidence presented against the accused.

Defense

No information is available concerning Ms. Behnam Baqerzadeh’s defense.

Judgment

An Islamic Revolutionary tribunal condemned Ms. Soraya Behnam Baqerzadeh to death. She and 11 other individuals were executed on December 26, 1981 in Mashad.

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