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

Abdolmajid Ja'fari Ziarati

About

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

Case

Date of Killing: August 29, 1981
Location of Killing: Tehran, Tehran Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Shooting
Charges: Printing/distributing leaflets; Living in safe houses; Counter revolutionary opinion and/or speech; Armed robbery

About this Case

The execution of Mr. Abdolmajid (or Abdolhamid) Ja’fari Ziarati, son of Asadollah, along with fourteen other individuals, was announced in a communiqué of the Public Relations Department of the Central Public Prosecutor’s Office and published in theJomhuri Eslami newspaper on August 31, 1981. Mr. Ja’fari Ziarati 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. Abdolmajid Ja’fari Ziarati is also 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 communiqué of the Public Relations Department of the Central Revolutionary Public Prosecutor’s Office states: “Hail to the fighters of the war against the world infidels under the leadership of blood-thirsty America, and hail to the heroic and martyr-producing nation, which obstruct criminals and merciless Hypocrites, and which reports these criminals against the Koran and Islam to the armed forces and the judiciary on a daily basis, and which accepts the calling of the Koran that ‘O Prophet, strive hard against the unbelievers and the Hypocrites, and be firm against them’” [9: 73].

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.

Charges

In the communiqué of the Public Relations Department of the Central Revolutionary Public Prosecutor’s Office, the collective charges against Mr. Ja’fari Ziarati and 5 other individuals were announced as:“a) Being in charge of the Publication and Distribution Committee for internal use [in the Peykar Organization] under the cover of two lithographic companies called Azar and Technofine;b) Armed robbery from Melli Bank on Salsabil [street in Tehran, renamed Rudaki Street] and stealing the salaries in of the employees of General Motors in Karaj;c) Living in safe-houses in order to plan for assassinations and overthrow of the Islamic Republic.”Moreover, fifteen defendants including Mr. Khoshnam, were charged with “working full-time, professionally, and secretively for the hellish Organization and received salary.”

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. Ja’fari Ziarati’s defense.

Judgment

The Central Islamic Revolutionary Court called Mr. Abdolmajid Ja’fari Ziarati “at war with God, corruptor on earth and a rebel” and condemned him to death. He was shot by a firing squad on August 29, 1981.

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