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

Javad Khayatzadeh

About

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

Case

Date of Killing: July 29, 1981
Location of Killing: Tabriz, Azarbaijan-e Sharqi Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Shooting
Charges: Actively opposing the Islamic Republic; Armed rebellion against the Islamic Republic; Living in safe houses; Printing/distributing leaflets; Unspecified counter-revolutionary offense

About this Case

News of the execution of Mr. Javad Khayatzadeh, known as Yashar, along with eighteen others, was published in the Keyhan newspaper on August 3, 1981. The Public Relations Department of the Revolutionary and Public Prosecutor’s Office in Tabriz issued an announcement about these executions, the defendants' names, and their charges. Mr. Khayatzadeh is also 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. Additionally, his name is mentioned in an addendum to the Mojahed magazine (No 261), published by the Mojahedin Khalq Organization on September 6, 1985, amongst the 12,028 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.

Mr. Khayatzadeh was active in the Logistic Section of the Peykar Organization in Tabriz. He was from Azarshahr, in East Azarbaijan province in north west of Iran.

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

The Islamic Revolutionary Court of Tabriz tried Mr. Khayatzadeh. No other information is available on the defendant’s trial.

Charges

The Public Relations Department of the Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office in Tabriz announced the collective charges against Mr. Khayatzadeh and 6 others as “armed uprising against the Islamic Republic of Iran in connection with his membership and effective collaboration with the American group-let of Peykar, which is at war with God, using the organizational safe houses for publication of newspapers, posters, and placards for Peykar and Komaleh group-lets, deluding the pure minds of uninformed youth, and cooperation with anti-Islam and anti-Quran armed groups of Komaleh, Fadaiyan Khalq (Ashraf Fraction), and others.”

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. Khayatzadeh’s defense.

Judgment

َThe Islamic Revolutionary Court of Tabriz identified Mr. Khayatzadeh “at war with God, His Prophet and the Twelfth Imam, a revel against the Islamic regime, corruptor on earth, and apostate.” He was condemned to death. The ruling was carried out and he was executed by a firing squad in the Tabriz prison yard on July 29, 1981 at 11 pm.

Correct/ Complete This Entry