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

Abbas Bana'i

About

Age: 22
Nationality: Iran
Religion: Non-Believer
Civil Status: Single

Case

Date of Killing: August 15, 1981
Location of Killing: Tehran, Tehran Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Shooting
Charges: Sedition and/ or threat to public security; Plotting to overthrow the Islamic Republic; Living in safe houses; Attempt to assassinate or assassination of state dignitaries

About this Case

News of the execution of Mr. Abbas Bana’i, son of Mohammad, along with eighteen others, was published in Keyhan and Jomhuri Eslami newspapers on August 16, 1981. The Public Relations Department of the Central Revolutionary and Public Prosecutor’s Office issued an announcement about this execution and released it to the Pars news agency.

Mr. Abbas Bana’i is 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.

Mr. Abbas Bana’i 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.

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.

h3>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.

Charges

The charges against Mr. Abbas Bana’i are collective, vague, and include eighteen other defendants. In the announcement by the Central Revolutionary and Public Prosecutor’s Office there is no reference to a specific crime committed by any single defendant. The announcement charges Mr. Abbas Bana’i with “attacking innocent people, assault and battery, murder, frequenting the organization’s houses, activities for overthrowing the Islamic Republic regime, and planning to assassinate officials.”

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. Abbas Bana’i’s defense.

Judgment

The Central Islamic Revolutionary Court condemned Mr. Abbas Bana’i to death. He was executed in the Evin prison yard in Tehran on August 15, 1981. No exact information is available about the details of the court verdict.

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