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

Hossein Kheirkhah

About

Nationality: Iran
Religion: Presumed Muslim
Civil Status: Unknown

Case

Date of Killing: January 17, 2001
Location of Killing: Qasr Prison, Tehran, Tehran Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Hanging
Charges: Murder

About this Case

News of the execution of Mr. Hossein Kheirkhah, along with five others, was published in the Iran newspaper on January 18, 2001. Additional information was taken from the Iran newspaper on January 17, 2001 and the Ettela’at newspaper on July 24, 1999. His case and the cases of two others were related to the kidnapping and murders of an antique seller and a businessman in Tehran in 1997.

Arrest and detention

The circumstances of Mr. Kheirkhah’s arrest and detention are not known.

Trial

Branch 1602 of the Criminal Court in Tehran tried Mr. Kheirkhah and the two other defendants. No information is available on his trial.

Charges

The charges brought against Mr. Kheirkhah and another defendant were announced as “kidnapping two individuals and murdering them.” According to the existing information, three defendants, wearing the Gas Company uniforms, climbed a wall and entered a victim’s house. When the owner (an antique seller) entered his home, they tied his hands and feet and suffocated him with a rope. Then they buried the body in the yard. On another occasion, these defendants, pretending to be an agent on the Azadegan Freeway, stopped an individual and took him to a warehouse in Shahr-e Ray, and stole his cash, traveler’s checks, and some documents from his safe. Then, they fed the victim some sleeping pills and murdered him while he was asleep.  

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 evidence presented against Mr. Kheirkhah was his “confession” and the confession of his collaborator.

International human rights organizations have repeatedly condemned the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran for its systematic use of severe torture and solitary confinement to obtain confessions from detainees and have questioned the authenticity of confessions obtained under duress.

Defense

No information is available on Mr. Kheirkhah’s defense.

Judgment

The Criminal Court in Tehran condemned Mr. Hossein Kheirkhah to death and the Supreme Court confirmed the ruling. He was hanged, along with five others, in Qasr Prison in Tehran on January 17, 2001. 

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