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

Ahmad Reza Shafi'zadeh

About

Nationality: Iran
Religion: Non-Believer
Civil Status: Unknown

Case

Date of Killing: July 5, 1981
Location of Killing: Tehran, Tehran Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Shooting
Charges: Unspecified counter-revolutionary offense

About this Case

News of the execution of Mr. Ahmad Reza Shafi’zadeh, son of Mohammad, along with twenty-two others, was published in the Kayhan and Jomhuri Eslami newspapers on July 7, 1981. The Public Relations Department of the Central Public Prosecutor’s Office issued an announcement concerning these executions, the defendants' names, and their charges, and released it to the news agencies. The Peykar magazine, number 122, published an article about Mr. Shafi’zadeh on October 12, 1981. He 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. Additionally, 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.

Mr. Shafi’zadeh was a founder of The Red Cell, a group of sympathizers of the Peykar organization in Kashan, and in charge of the Worker’s Section and propaganda of this group. He participated in the workers’ struggle, and the nocturnal distribution of publications and writing slogans were some his activities.

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

According to the Peykar publication, Mr. Shafi’zadeh was first arrested in Kashan in 1980, and released later. He was arrested again in Kashan and spent a long time in prison without trail. Since he protested, resisted, and began a hunger strike in prison, the officials sent him to Evin prison in Tehran. They returned him to solitary confinement in Kashan after two months. No other information is available regarding the circumstances of this defendant’s arrest and detention.

Trial

No information is available on the defendant’s trial.

Charges

The Public Relations Department of the Central Public Prosecutor’s Office announced the charges against Mr. Shafi’zadeh as, "active membership in the Communist Peykar Organization, having a record of several criminal activities, acting against the Islamic Republic, provoking the prisoners, rioting, creating disturbance, and apostasy.”

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. Shafi’zadeh’s defense.

Judgment

َThe Islamic Revolutionary Court of Kashan identified Mr. Shafi’zadeh as "a corruptor on earth), an enemy of God, and a rebel." He was condemned to death. According to the Peykar publication, Mr. Shafi’zadeh, along with six others, was transferred from Kashan to Tehran on July 12, 1981, at night.

Mr. Shafi’zadeh was executed in Evin prison on July 5, 1981. The court considered Mr. him an apostate and therefore prevented the burial of his body in the Muslim cemetery. He was buried instead in the non-Muslim cemetery without a ceremony.

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