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

Jean-Michel Jamme

About

Age: 25
Nationality: France
Religion: Unknown
Civil Status: Unknown

Case

Date of Killing: July 8, 1980
Location of Killing: Neuilly-sur-Seine, Paris, France
Mode of Killing: Extrajudicial shooting
Charges: Unspecified offense

About this Case

An armed receptionist, of sorts, for guests of former prime minister Bakhtiar in his Neuilly sur Seine apartment. M. Jamme was there to screen and protect.

Jean-Michel Jamme is one of two individuals killed in the assassination attempt of Shapur Bakhtiar, which took place on July 18, 1980, in the suburb of Paris, Neuilly sur Seine.

Information concerning this assassination attempt was collected by the French press (Le Figaro July 19, 1980, France Soir July 18, 1980 and July 19, 1980, Le Monde July 19, 1980, February 27, 1982, March 5, 1982, March 12, 1982, L’Express from June 14 to June 20, 1980 and of July 26 August 1, 1980).

A five-member terrorist commando group composed of a Lebanese Christian, Anis Naccache, an Iranian member of the Revolutionary Guards Corps, Nejad Tabrizi, a Palestinian, Fawzi El Satari, and two individuals, Salah Eddine El Kaara and Mohamed Jenab, of either Syrian or Lebanese descent according to different sources, carried out the July 18, 1980, attack at the apartment building in Neuilly sur Seine where Mr. Bakhtiar resided.

The commando group arrived at the building at 8:45 am, carrying silencer guns and press cards from the newspaper L’Humanite (affiliated to the French Communist Party). The police officers assigned to Bakhtiar’s protection allowed them to enter the building's lobby where Jean-Michel Jamme was in charge of informing Bakhtiar of visitors through the lobby's intercom. He was shot before he could call Bakhtiar’s apartment. The commandos then reached the second floor where Bakhtiar’s apartment was located and mistakenly knocked on his neighbor’s door. The commandos shot Yvonne Stein dead as soon as she opened the door, and also wounded her sister. When the commandos finally rang the door bell of Bakhtiar’s apartment, the latter’s cousin, suspicious of the early-hour visit, attached the door’s security chain before opening it. The commandos shot through the door crack but failed to gain access to the apartment and complete its mission.

The members of the commando group were arrested as they were leaving the building. They were detained and interrogated by French police. At all stages of the judicial process, they claimed responsibility for their acts. They were charged with murder by the Criminal Court of Hauts de Seine, which held hearings from February 5 to March 10, 1982. The accused refused to attend their trial (except for one hearing), deeming the Court incompetent, since, according to them, ‘only Allah is a judge’. All the members of the commando group were sentenced to life imprisonment except for Fawzi El Satari who was sentenced to twenty years.

Jean-Michel Jamme’s name is in OMID with victims of human rights violations by the Islamic Republic of Iran, because the available information indicates that he was shot by agents of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the course of the assassination attempt against Shapur Bakhtiar, for which Iranian authorities later claimed responsibility.

During the only hearing he attended, the head of the commando group, Naccache, argued that the assassination plan was based on a verdict issued by the Islamic Revolutionary Tribunal in Tehran. ( Le Monde, March 10, 1982)

Mr. Bakhtiar’s assassination attempt was claimed immediately on July 19, 1980 in a communiqué issued by the Revolutionary Guards and read on the official Radio-Tehran.

In an interview given to L’Express magazine published during the week of June 14-20, 1980, Ayatollah Khalkhali, designated by Khomeini as the Head of the Islamic Revolutinary Tribunal, stated that Bakhtiar was on his blacklist and that a commando unit was in charge of killing him (p 141).

Le Figaro on July 19, 1980, also mentioned the blacklist in which Bakhtiar’s name follows some relatives of the former Shah. Khalkhali said: "I have sent a commando unit to get him, he can not escape us".

Furthermore, in an interview given to the newspaper Le Monde on December 1, 1992, Anis Naccache explained that "At the time, killing the former prime minister under the Shah was a political necessity and legally justified".

Anis Naccache made headline news again during a bombing campaign that hit France between February1985 and May 1986 that killed 14 and injured 335 people. Responsibility for these attacks was claimed by Islamist groups close to the Lebanese Hezbollah, which received ideological guidance and logistical support from the Islamic Republic. After the bombings, those responsible called for the liberation of three people imprisoned in France, including Anis Naccache of the Jihad (Didier Bigo in Culture and Conflicts n°4 (1992) pp. 147-173).

On July 27, 1990, President Mitterand pardoned Anis Naccache, the leader of the commando group and his accomplices. Naccache left for Tehran and reportedly has lived between the Iranian capital and Beirut ever since. On August 6, 1991 Shapur Bakhtiar, and his assistant, Soroush Katibeh, were assassinated in Suresnes (a Paris suburb where Bakhtiar had lived since the 1980 attempt on his life). The assassination was carried out by members of the Islamic Republic Revolutionary Guards Corps. 

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