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 Keshtkar

About

Age: 22
Nationality: Iran
Religion: Islam
Civil Status: Unknown

Case

Date of Killing: May 23, 1984
Location of Killing: Shiraz, Fars Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Shooting
Charges: Corruption on earth; Counter revolutionary opinion and/or speech; War on God

About this Case

Mr. Mohammad Keshtkar is among the 282 individuals listed in a United Nations Report on The Situation of Human Right in the Islamic Republic of Iran (Note by the Secretary General), published on 13 November 1985. The report lists these individuals as “Persons who were allegedly summarily and arbitrarily executed in the Islamic Republic of Iran: 1984-1985.”

Additional information has been sent to Omid by one of his relatives. Mr. Keshtkar was born into a worker family in March 1962 in Shiraz. He was a sophomore student at the vocational school, majoring in electronics. He joined the Mojahedin Khalq Organization in 1979 and he was in charge of different publishing and communications units. At the time of arrest, he was in charge of ideological promotion of the Organization in Fars province.

Arrest and detention

According to the form, he was arrested at age 19 on a September afternoon in 1981, close to Kapari Movie Theater in Shiraz, and charged with membership of the Mojahedin Organization and being in charge of organizational activities. According to this source, he had been identified by a member of the Basij Resistance Force who was a classmate of his. Mr. Keshtkar was held at the detention center of the Revolutionary Guards headquarter in Shiraz where he was tortured for 6 months. During this period he was held in solitary confinement and was denied the right to have an attorney.

After his first trial, he was transferred to the Adelabad prison in Shiraz where he was in charge of ideological promotion of the Mojehadin Khalq Organization. Subsequent to the disclosure of such Organizational activities in prison, he was returned to the detention center of the Revolutionary Guards headquarter in Shiraz and was under torture for two years. He was held in solitary confinement. During these two years he had weekly visits with his family. Visitors saw him from behind a glass divider and spoke through a telephone.

Trial

There is no exact information regarding his trials. According to the sender of the form, he was first tried in 1981 at the Islamic Revolutionary Tribunal of Shiraz and was condemned to 5 years imprisonment.

After his political activities at Adelabad prison were disclosed he was re-tried in 1982. He was condemned to death penalty, which was confirmed by the Supreme Judicial Court in 1983.

Charges

According to the form, in his first trial, he was charged with “membership in the Mojahedin Khalq, corruption on earth, and being at war with God, and [refusal to perform] the Islamic penance”.

According to the available information, at his second trial, Mr. Keshtkar was charged with “membership in and cooperation with the Mojahedin Khalq, corruption on earth, being at war with God, being in charge of Organization activities at Adelabad prison in Shiraz, propaganda against the regime, and recruiting forces, and promotion of anti-regime beliefs in the benefit of the Mojahedin Khalq, and defending his beliefs throughout the interrogation, and trial processes.”

Evidence of guilt

According to the form, the only evidence against Mr. Keshtkar was “statements and confessions” of his acquaintances.

Defense

No detail is available concerning his defense. According to available information, Mr. Keshtkar was denied the right to have an attorney. Neither he nor his family had access to his file.

Judgment

The Islamic Revolutionary Tribunal of Shiraz condemned Mr. Mohammad Keshtkar to death. The Supreme Judicial Court confirmed this ruling and Mr. Keshtkar was hanged on May 23, 1984. According to available information, his body was returned to his family.

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