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

Shahla Hariri Motlaq

About

Age: 35
Nationality: Iran
Religion: Islam
Civil Status: Married

Case

Date of Killing: September 30, 1982
Location of Killing: Evin Prison, Tehran, Tehran Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Shooting
Charges: Unknown charge

About this Case

A crafts teacher in Tehran Pars and a person of independent mind, she spoke up over voting irregularities as a 1980 election observer. 

The information about Ms. Shahla Hariri Motlaq, a teacher who was executed along with 125 other detainees, is based on an interview with one of her relatives. Ms. Hariri Motaleq is also one of the 12028 individuals listed in an addendum to the Mojahed magazine (No 261), published by Mojahedin Khalq Organization in 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.

Ms. Hariri Motlaq was a secondary school teacher in crafts in Tehran Pars and a mother of two. She was pro Khomeini during the Revolution and afterwards joined the Mojahedin Khalq Organization, which was at the time an authorized political group. Her husband was a high ranking official in the Islamic Republic. Ms. Shahla Hariri was an observer during 1980 parliamentary election in a voting station. During the process of counting the ballots, she noticed that Rajavi’s vote was counted as Rajai’i. When she protested, she was assaulted by Hezbollah militias and was hospitalized with a broken nose and bruised body.

Ms. Hariri was arrested once in August 1981 and spent 15 days in prison. She was released thanks to her husband and his influential friends in the Islamic Republic Party. However, according to her relative, the crimes she witnessed in prison, led her to become an active member of the Mojahedin Organization without the knowledge of her husband.

Arrest and detention

Ms. Shahla Hariri Motlaq was arrested for the second time in May 1982 by armed forces that surrounded her house. She was detained at 3000, and section 209 of Evin prison. During the four months and seven days of her incommunicado imprisonment, she did not have access to an attorney lawyer.

Shahla Hariri was severely tortured and hospitalized to undergo dialysis. The news of her hospitalization was given to her family through a person who had seen her there.

Trial

No information is available on the defendant’s trial.

Charges

No exact information is available on Ms. Shahla Hariri Motlaq’s charges. According to her relatives, connection to the Mojahedin Organization and providing them with information about some of the officials of the Islamic Republic were among the charges against her.

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. According to her relatives, she provided the Mojahedin with some reports about the officials of the Islamic Republic who visited to her house. In a raid to one of the Mojahedin’s house, some of these reports were recovered.

Defense

No information is available on Ms. Shahla Hariri’s defense.

Judgment

Ms. Shahla Hariri Motlaq was executed by a firing squad in Evin prison on September 30, 1982 at 8:00 am. No information is available on the verdict leading to her death. Her body is buried in No. 177, Row 47, Lot 91 of Behesht-e Zahra cemetry in Tehran.

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