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

Seyed Kamal Yasini

About

Age: 20
Nationality: Iran
Religion: Islam
Civil Status: Single

Case

Date of Killing: March 3, 1980
Location of Killing: Evin Prison, Tehran, Tehran Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Shooting
Charges: Armed robbery; Attempt to assassinate or assassination of state dignitaries; Murder

About this Case

Mr. Kamal Yasini’s execution was announced by the public relations office of the Chief Revolutionary Public Prosecutor along with that of six other members of the dissident guerilla movement, Forqan. The announcement was published in the Ettela’at newspaper (March 3, 1980). Additional information has been drawn from an interview with an individual familiar with this case.

According to the interviewee, a close relative of Mr. Yasini’s, he was a student of Applied Physics and an attendee of Teacher’s College. He started his political activities before the Revolution at the Khatam library of A’zam Mosque in the neighborhood of Qolhak, where he studied the ideas of Dr. Ali Shari’ati under Ali Hatami (who was executed in June 1980). At that time, he also attended Qoran study sessions headed by Akbar Gudarzi (the mastermind of Forqan) in Khamseh Mosque. Mr. Yasini’s basic belief was Islam without the clergy.

Forqan was formed in 1977 by a group of Ali Shari’ati’s followers with a modern interpretation of the Qoran and Islamic ideology. It is not clear whether or not the group was armed, but it went underground soon after its formation. Based on documents available in the archives of the Islamic Revolution Documentation Center (gathered and reported by Ahmad Gudarzi on Bacheha-ye Ghalam website), this group opposed from the onset of the Revolution the involvement of the clergy in the government and the particular interpretation of Islam later implemented by the Islamic Republic authorities. In its short period of post-revolutionary activity, the group was accused of involvement in several assassinations and armed robberies, the first one reportedly as early as May 1979, only a couple of months after the triumph of the Revolution. Based on the above mentioned report, most of the known members of the group were executed or killed in clashes with Islamic Revolutionary Committee forces, which led to the total elimination of the group in January 1980.

Arrest and detention

According to the interviewee, Mr. Yasini was arrested in a team house on December 23, 1979 (a week after he assassinated Mohammad Mofatteh, a member of the Islamic Republic clergy, on December 18). His arrest did not involve armed resistance.

Mr. Yasini was detained for 68 days before he was executed. He was allowed visitors twice during this time, the second time being the evening before his execution. In that visit, he bid his family goodbye and handed his personal belonging to them. According to the interviewee, Mr. Yasini had faith in his path until the very last moment of his life.

Trial

According to the interviewee, Mr. Yasini was tried twice at Evin Prison and did not have the right to appeal. The details of the trials are unknown.

The announcement in the Ettela’at newspaper specified that the verdict was issued by the Islamic Revolutionary Tribunal of the Center (Tehran); however, no information regarding the circumstances of the trial was provided.

Charges

According to the announcement, Mr. Yasini was charged with “murdering Martyr Dr. Mohammad Mofatteh, Martyr Haj Mehdi Araqi, Martyr Hesam Araqi, and Martyr Asghar Ne’mati,” and “attempting to assassinate Hojatoleslam Rafsanjani” as well as “armed robbery from the Islamic Republic’s banks.”

Evidence of guilt

According to the interviewee, Mr. Yasini confessed to the assassination of Mohammad Mofatteh and did not express repentance.

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

No information is available on Mr. Yasini’s defense, except that he was not allowed to have an attorney.

Judgment

Mr. Yasini was executed by a firing squad, along with six others, in the courtyard of Evin Prison at 1 A.M. on March 3, 1980. His body was handed over to his family that same morning.

Correct/ Complete This Entry