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

Navid Parham

About

Age: 22
Nationality: Iran
Religion: Presumed Muslim
Civil Status: Unknown

Case

Date of Killing: July 9, 2007
Location of Killing: Shiraz, Fars Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Hanging
Charges: Murder; Robbery

About this Case

News of the arrest and the execution of Mr. Navid Parham was published on the websites of the Sharq newspaper on September 30, 2004, IRNA (Islamic Republic News Agency) and the Khabare Jonub newspaper on July 9, 2007, and the Jomhuri Eslami newspaper and Police Information Base on July 10, 2007.

Arrest and Detention

According to the Sharq newspaper, quoting the Chief of Police in Shiraz, after a worker in a pizza place was killed in 2004 and a witness stated that he saw people in a motorcycle escape, the police investigation resulted, two months later, in the arrest of eight members of a gang.

Trial

This trial took place in Branch 122 of Shiraz Court.

Charges

The charges against Mr. Navid Parham were announced as “murder and robbery.” According to the Public Relations Office of the Fars Court, he had a record of previous convictions.

The validity of the criminal charges brought against this defendant cannot be ascertained in the absence of the basic guarantees of a fair trial. International human rights organizations have drawn attention to reports indicating that Islamic Republic authorities have brought trumped-up charges against their political opponents and executed them for alleged drug trafficking, sexual, and other criminal offences. Each year Iranian authorities sentence to death hundreds of alleged common criminals, following judicial processes that fail to meet international standards. The exact number of people convicted based on trumped-up charges is unknown.

Evidence of Guilt

The evidence provided against the defendant were “his confessions to several cases of extortion in various parts of town” and the statement by the gang leader. According to the Chief of Police in Shiraz, after members of the gang were arrested, the leader confessed that they intended to rob a passerby and since he resisted, the Mr. Parhamn struck him with a dagger in the chest and they escaped on a motorcycle.”

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. In the case of political detainees, these confessions are, at times, televised. The National Television broadcasts confessions during which prisoners plead guilty to vague and false charges, repent and renounce their political beliefs, and/or implicate others. Human rights organizations have also pointed to the pattern of retracted confessions by those prisoners who are freed.

Defense

No information is available on Mr. Parham’s defense at the court. However, the police chief of Shiraz stated: “as the detectives reenacted the scene, they came to the conclusion that this was not a pre-meditated murder, and it appears to be related to robbery…”

Judgment

The court condemned Mr. Navid Parham to death and the ruling was confirmed by Branch 28 of the Supreme Court. He was hanged in public in the Kazerun Gate in Shiraz on July 9, 2007.

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