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

Mohammad Mehdi Duzduzani (Kazemi)

About

Nationality: Iran
Religion: Islam
Civil Status: Unknown

Case

Date of Killing: January 14, 2004
Location of Killing: Tehran, Tehran Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Hanging
Charges: Corruption on earth; War on God

About this Case

News of the execution of Mr. Mohammad Mehdi Duzduzani (Seyyed Mehdi Kazemi) and 100 other defendants in this case was published by numerous sources including Asr-e No (June 3, 2009) and Iran Press (January 4, 2004). Additional information about this case was obtained from a letter written by Mohammad Hadi Massumi published in Buddha weblog (December 7, 2005) quoting a high-ranking member of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (Revolutionary Guards).

Mr. Mohammad Mehdi Duzduzani (Seyyed Mehdi Kazemi) was the Revolutionary Guards Army’s Deputy for Financial Affairs and one of the commanders of the independent Al-Qadir Brigade during the eight-year Iran-Iraq war. He was a member of the “Jonbesh-e Mottahed-e Isargaran” (“United Movement of the Self-Sacrificing”)*.

In early 2001, in the presence of Mr. Khamenei (Iranian supreme leader), he protested the Revolutionary Guards and the Bassij’s Mafia style business practices in Europe and the Persian Gulf countries, and the Guards and the Bassij’s involvement in drug trafficking and the traffic of Iranian women and girls to Persian Gulf countries. He stated before the Iranian leader that all of Iran’s instruments of war were directly and indirectly supplied by the United States and Israel, and that overt opposition to America was unwise and unreasonable. Mr. Duzduzani also stated that the Iranian regime needed to have reasonable relations with the U.S. in order to survive. He said that the people should not be deprived of knowing the country’s weaknesses and limitations and stated that the people were not “Namahram” (“strangers”, those not intimate enough to see or have access to, usually, women and their quarters). (Buddha weblog, December 7, 2005).

In that same year, Mr. Duzduzani wrote an open letter along with a group of veterans and disabled veterans, entitled “We are warriors”, better known as the Commanders of the Revolutionary Guards’ letter, in which he had objected to the policies put forth by Iranian leaders including Mr. Khamenei, and to rampant corruption and injustice in the country. He further criticized the contradictions that existed between what the leaders said and the actions they took, and the differences between these deeds and what had been promised at the onset of the Iranian Revolution, and added: “We have had enough of all the discrimination and these contradictions between words and actions…” Asr-e No (June 3, 2009).

In the course of a protest sit-in at the Revolutionary Guards Joint Headquarters in 2003, where Mr. Duzduzani and tens of high-ranking officers were present, he gave a speech and announced the establishment of the “Jonbesh-e Mottahed-e Isargaran” (“United Movement of the Self-Sacrificing”). He demanded at the sit-in that Mr. Khamenei come amongst the protesters, and stated: “If the purpose of the Revolutionary Guards is to give its life solely for the survival of these gentlemen (alluding to corrupt leaders and their cronies) and their offspring, we respectfully kiss our uniforms good bye and put them away.” Asr-e No (June 3, 2009).

Furthermore, on the first anniversary of the death of one of the Revolutionary Guards commanders, Mr. Duzduzani gave a speech in Tehran’s Shahid Mahallati neighborhood (reserved for military personnel) and disclosed the existence of 147 companies affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Army that were active in Iran, Dubai, and Europe. He alluded to and criticized these companies’ activities in deriving illegal income for organs affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, such as the Revolutionary Guards Information Protection arm and the Revolutionary Guards Information Deputy Commander’s Office, as well as the Supreme Leader Representative’s Office within the Revolutionary Guards. He further stated that the Revolutionary Guards were now standing in opposition to its own initial objectives, the people of Iran, and the honor and integrity of the country. Asr-e No (June 3, 2009).

According to available information, Mr. Duzduzani’s case was related to organizing the assembly and sit-in by tens of Revolutionary Guards commanders at the Revolutionary Guards Joint Headquarters in early 2003 (located at the Qasr-e Firuzeh Garrison) where they had demanded Mr. Khamenei attend the assembly and answer their questions. Asr-e No (June 3, 2009).

Arrest and detention

Mr. Duzduzani was arrested in early 2003, in the course of an attack on an assembly and sit-in of the “Jonbesh-e Mottahed-e Isargaran” (“United Movement of the Self-Sacrificing”) at the Revolutionary Guards Joint Headquarters (located at the Qasr-e Firuzeh Garrison), where he and 200 other participants at the sit-in, all of whom were Revolutionary Guards forces, were arrested using tears gas and clubs. Asr-e No (June 3, 2009).

Trial

Tehran Military Tribunal Branch Seven, conducted a closed door trial of Mr. Duzduzani and the other defendants in the case. (Asr-e No). the court tried Mr. Duzduzani and 200 other defendants in the case in less than one week. There is no information about the trial session(s).

Charges

Tehran Military Tribunal Branch Seven, charged Mr. Duzduzani with armed efforts to overthrow the regime and with insulting the Islamic Republic of Iran’s highest ranking officials. Asr-e No (June 3, 2009).

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 allude to reports according to which, in certain cases, the Islamic republic of Iran’s officials bring false charges against their opponents (including political, civil, and union activists, as well as ethnic and religious minorities) such as drug trafficking or commission of public or sexual crimes, and execute them along with other regular criminals. Hundreds of people are sentenced to death in Iran every year; however, the number of those who are sentenced to death based on these false charges is not known. 

Evidence of guilt

Discovery of three firearms at Mr. Duzduzani’s home was among evidence used against him in court. (Asr-e No, June 3, 2009).

Furthermore, Tehran Military Tribunal issued a bulletin in August 2003 in which it talked about the discovery of a group in the armed forces whose goal was to disrupt the country’s economic system, in which Mr. Duzduzani was also mentioned. (Asr-e No, June 3, 2009).

Defense

Mr. Duzduzani said he had no knowledge of any weapons in his house other than the one colt firearm that he had legally in his possession.

The adjudication of this case was done outside regular channels and took less than a week. (Buddha weblog, December 7, 2005).

Judgment

Tehran Military Tribunal Branch Seven, sentenced Mr. Mohammad Mehdi Duzduzani to death on the charge of “Moharebeh (“waging war against Allah”) and Efsad fel-Arz (“spreading corruption on Earth”). Mr. Duduzani was hanged at Tehran’s Heshmatieh Prison in the morning of Wednesday, January 14, 2004.

According to the Buddha weblog, the court also sentenced about 100 of the other defendants in the case to death, all of whom were hanged, and the rest of the defendants were sentenced to long prison terms. No details of these sentences are available.

____________________________________________________________

*A number of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps commanders and regular forces, including Mr. Mohammad Mehdi Duzduzani (Seyyed Mehdi Kazemi), the Revolutionary Guards Army Deputy for Financial Affairs and one of the commanders of the independent Al-Qadir Brigade during the eight-year Iran-Iraq war, established the “Jonbesh-e Mottahed-e Isargaran” (“United Movement of the Self-Sacrificing”) in 2001, in protest against corruption and injustice in the country. The publication of an open protest letter entitled “We are warriors”, and organizing an assembly and sit-in at the Revolutionary Guards Joint Headquarters (located at the Qasr-e Firuzeh Garrison) in early 2003, were among the Movement’s most noteworthy activities. (Asr-e No, June 3, 2009).

 

Correct/ Complete This Entry