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

Hamid Chehelpalizadeh

About

Age: 30
Nationality: Iran
Religion: Non-Believer
Civil Status: Single

Case

Date of Killing: December 31, 1981
Location of Killing: Shushtar, Khuzestan Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Shooting
Charges: Unknown charge

About this Case

The execution of Mr. Hamid Chehelpolizadeh, son of Rajab Ali, along with three other individuals, was announced in a communiqué of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Masjed Soleyman (Khuzestan province), published in the Keyhan newspapers on December 23, 1981. The Public Relations Department of the Central Revolutionary Public Prosecutor’s Office issued another communiqué regarding the execution of Mr. Hamid Chehelpolizadeh and four other individuals on December 27, 1981.

Mr. Chehelpolizadeh is also one of the 430 individuals whose names appear on the list of “Martyrs of the Peykar Organization for the Liberation of the Working Class” published on the website of Andeesheh va Peykar. This list contains the names of those members of the organization who died after the revolution of 1979. More than 400 of the individuals on this list have been executed. Moreover, he is one of the 12,028 individuals listed in an addendum to the Mojahed magazine (No 261), published by the Mojahedin Khalq Organization on September 6, 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. Additionally, Ms. Nahid Nosrat refers to Mr. Chehelpolizadeh in an article published in the first volume of the book The Inescapable Escape.

According to report of the Peykar Organization, Mr. Chehelpolizadeh was from Shushtar (Khuzestan province) and had been imprisoned during the previous regime. This same report states that he had a “bachelor’s degree in agriculture, but he could not find a job after the Revolution. Thus he started working in a shop that repaired radio and television sets.”

The Peykar Organization for the Liberation of the Working Class was founded by a number of dissident members of the Mojahedin Khalq Organization who had converted to Marxism-Leninism. Peykar was also joined by a number of political organizations, known as Khat-e Se (Third line). The founding tenets of Peykar included the rejection of guerrilla struggle and a strong stand against the pro-Soviet policies of the Iranian Tudeh Party. Peykar viewed the Soviet Union as a “Social imperialist” state, believed that China had deviated from the Marxist-Leninist principles, and radically opposed all factions of the Islamic regime of Iran. The brutal repression of dissidents by the Iranian government and splits within Peykar in 1981 and 1982 effectively dismantled the Organization and scattered its supporters. By the mid-1980s, Peykar was no longer in existence.

Arrest and detention

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

Trial

No information is available on the defendant’s trial, other than he was tried at the Islamic Revolutionary Tribunal of Masjed Soleyman.

Charges

Mr. Chehelpolizadeh was charged with “Sympathizing with the American Organization of Peykar and having contact with the high level members of the organization.”

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

The report of this execution does not contain information regarding the evidence provided against the defendant.

Defense

No information is available on Mr. Chehelpolizadeh’s defense. The Peykar report states that he “proudly defended his political convictions.”

Judgment

The Islamic Revolutionary Court of Masjed Soleyman recognized Mr. Hamid Chehelpolizadeh a “corruptor on earth, a rebel against the Imam and the regime of the Islamic Republic, and an apostate,” and condemned him to death. The Peykar report refers to the statements of an executioner, saying: “At the time of the execution, the head of the [Revolutionary] Guards told Hamid Chehelpolizadeh: ‘Repent sp you won’t go to hell.’ But [Hamid’s] reply was: ‘I don’t believe in your heaven and hell.’” Mr. Chehelpolizadeh was executed in Shushtar on December 21, 1981 at midnight.

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