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

Salaheddin Seyedi

About

Age: 55
Nationality: Iran
Religion: Islam (Sunni)
Civil Status: Married

Case

Date of Killing: March 3, 2009
Location of Killing: Zahedan Prison, Zahedan, Sistan Va Baluchestan Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Hanging
Charges: War on God; Corruption on earth
Age at time of alleged offense: 55

About this Case

Was a Sunni cleric who had close relationships with the youth, which drew the attention of Islamic Republic authorities.

News of the execution of Mr. Salahadin Seyedi, son of Karimbakhsh, along with his fellow defendant, Mr. Khalilollah Zarei, was announced by various outlets including the website of Fars News Agency (March 3, 2009), Kayhan daily (March 4, 2009), Iranian Students’ News Agency – ISNA – (March 3, 2009), the Information Center for the Sunni Community – Sunni Online – (March 5, 2009), and Taftan News Agency (May 29, 2009). Additional information on this case was obtained from the website of BBC (May 29, 2009) as well as Abdorrahman Boroumand Center’s interview with one of Mr. Seyedi’s family members on March 11-15, 2017 (ABC interview).

Mr. Seyedi, known as Hafez Saeid, a Sunni Baluchi, was born in the Bandan Village of Sarbaz County in Sistan and Baluchistan Province, and lived in Nassirabad Village, Sarbaz County. He was almost 55, married, and had four children. Mr. Seyedi knew the Quran by heart and taught it at the seminary in Nassirabad Village. In addition to teaching, he traded in motorcycle accessories. He had an elementary school education, and then studied in various seminaries such as Aziziyeh Dar al-Oloum of Zahedan and Haghaniyeh Religious Seminary in Iranshahr, and then went to Pakistan to complete his religious studies (ABC interview).

According to one of Mr. Seyedi’s acquaintances, he was a religious individual and a follower of the Hanafi School of Sunnism. He was a sociable person and had a good relationship with people, especially the youth, and cared for those around him (ABC interview).

The case of Mr. Seyedi pertains to support of and membership in the Jondollah Group, “moharebeh” (taking up arms against the holy state), and acting against national security in the city of Zahedan. 

Arrest and detention

The available information on the time and method of Mr. Seyedi’s arrest is contradictory.

According to the published reports in the state media, in May/June of 2008, Mr. Seyedi was arrested along with a group composed of 27 people during a clash with the police force, the Revolutionary Guards and the Basij Force (Fars News Agency, March 3, 2009; Kayhan daily, March 4, 2009).

He was arrested while he was a guest at another’s house. Those who arrested him did not show a warrant and beat him during arrest.

According to an acquaintance of Mr. Seyedi, the forces of the Intelligence Office of Iranshahr arrested Mr. Seyedi in the village where he lived at 2 PM on June 16, 2008. Mr. Seyedi was a guest along with a few others at the house of his fellow defendant when the security forces raided the house, arrested everyone present while beating them, and moved them to the detention center of the Intelligence Office of the city of Iranshahr. Two days later, Mr. Seyedi was transferred to the detention center of the Intelligence Office of Zahedan, where he was kept for four months. Then he was moved to Ward 3 of Zahedan Central Prison, known as the ward for political prisoners, and was kept there for around five months (ABC interview).

A month and a half after his arrest, Mr. Seyedi talked to his family for the first time on the phone for a few minutes. After two months, he was allowed to meet his wife and children for less than 20 minutes in the presence of two security force personnel in the Information Bureau of the Intelligence Office of Zahedan. During this meeting, Mr. Seyedi looked very frail and old. His hair had grown grey, and he told his family that he had been kept in the solitary for one month where he could hear no human voice and was not able to distinguish day from night, and the cell was so small that he could not even fully stretch his legs. Nevertheless, after a month, another inmate was transferred to that small cell. During his detention in the Intelligence Office, Mr. Seyedi was only able to call and see his family two or three times. In Zahedan Central Prison, Mr. Seyedi was not allowed to meet his family under normal conditions, and each time they wanted to meet him, his family had to secure the permission of the court. Mr. Seyedi’s family had to travel the 600-kilometer distance between Sarbaz County and the city of Zahedan with much difficulty, and, after securing the permission of the Ministry of Intelligence, they were required to additionally go to court to secure permission for the meeting from the judge (ABC interview).

After his arrest, the interrogator had told him: “Your verdict is death. Be certain that you will not leave this place alive.”

According to the interviewee, Mr. Seyedi, due to his long confinement in the solitary cell, had been driven to the “limits of sanity.” He had also been physically and mentally abused and harshly tortured with different-sized steel cables as well as lashes while tied to the rack, known in the prison as the “miracle bed” (ABC interview).

Mr. Seyedi’s government-appointed lawyer had met him for the first time in Zahedan Central Prison four months after his arrest. The authorities did not grant permission to Mr. Seyedi’s family to hire another lawyer for him (ABC interview).

Mr. Seyedi’s family met him for the last time for 30 minutes on March 2, 2009 (ABC interview). 

Trial

According to the interviewee, Mr. Seyedi was publicly tried by one of the branches of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Zahedan in October/November of 2008. The court session was held for the duration of an hour in the presence of Mr. Seyedi’s father-in-law, his government-appointed lawyer, and an individual who was introduced as the private plaintiff in the case. Mr. Seyedi’s government-appointed lawyer did not effectively defend his client (ABC interview).

According to the published reports in the state media, Mr. Seyedi went on trial along with 27 other people in one of the branches of the Iranshahr Court (Fars News Agency, March 3, 2009; Kayhan daily, March 4, 2009).

His trial was open to the public.

There is no further information available on the details of the session or sessions of Mr. Seyedi’s trial.

Charges

The details of the available reports on Mr. Seyedi’s charges are contradictory.

According to one of his acquaintances, Mr. Seyedi was tried on the charge of “attempted assassination” of an individual affiliated with the security forces. This was the same person who attended the trial as the private plaintiff. According to the interviewee, “meeting with Abdomalek Rigi, acting against national security, and moharebeh” were the charges that, alongside others, were brought against Mr. Seyedi (ABC interview).

Fars News Agency, citing the Public Relations section of the provincial Ministry of Justice office of Sistan and Baluchistan Province, enumerated the charges of Mr. Seyedi and his fellow defendant as such: “support of, membership in, and effective financial and military attempt at advancing the goals of the terrorist group of Abdolmalek Rigi to oppose the Islamic Republic of Iran; collecting a large amount of arms, ammunition and explosive devices; exploding a bomb on the route of the police patrol car; participating in the attempted assassination of a Sunni citizen; and attacking the police car in the Iranshahr County” (March 3, 2009). The particular charges of the two defendants were not identified in this news item.

Kayhan daily stated the charges of the “two members of the terrorist group of Abdolmalek Rigi” as “participating in bombing and terrorist activities” (March 4, 2009).

ISNA stated Mr. Seyedi’s charges as “moharebeh [taking up arms against the holy state] and fesad-e fel-arz [sowing corruption on earth] through support of, membership in, and effective financial and military attempt at advancing the goals of the terrorist group of Abdolmalek Rigi to oppose the Islamic Republic of Iran” (ISNA, March 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 have drawn attention to reports indicating that the Islamic Republic authorities have brought trumped-up charges, including drug trafficking, sexual, and other criminal offences, against their opponents (including political, civil society activists, as well as unionists and ethnic and religious minorities). 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 and executed based on trumped-up charges is unknown.

Evidence of guilt

According to an acquaintance of Mr. Seyedi, “his confessions during his detention” became the basis for the verdict issued against him (ABC interview).

In addition, the filmed confessions of Mr. Seyedi and his fellow defendant which were broadcast on the provincial television channel in Sistan and Baluchistan were counted as evidence of guilt against Mr. Seyedi (Sunni Online, March 5, 2009).

There is no information available on the details of the evidence of guilt entered against Mr. Seyedi in court.

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.

Defense

Mr. Seyedi’s verdict was announced to him during his detention and before his trial was held. He had told his family during their first meeting that on the day that he had been arrested, the interrogator had told him, “Your verdict is death, and be certain that you won’t leave this place alive” (ABC interview).

The agents of the Ministry of Intelligence did not allow Mr. Seyedi to choose a lawyer. He was not allowed to meet with the government-appointed lawyer before his trial either, and his lawyer did not mount an effective defense of him. The lawyer had told Mr. Seyedi’s family that “this case is security-related, and the lawyer can’t do anything” (ABC interview).

According to an acquaintance of Mr. Seyedi, the private plaintiff had stated in the court session that Mr. Seyedi had not been his attempted assassin, adding that “I know the person who wanted to assassinate me. He is my kin. He is not this gentleman [Mr. Seyedi]” (ABC interview).

There is no information available on the details of Mr. Seyedi’s defense at court.

A Summary of the Defects of Mr. Salaheddin Seyedi’s Legal Proceedings

According to the available information on this case such as the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center’s interview with one of Mr. Seyedi’s acquaintances, Mr. Seyedi was severely tortured in the course of the initial interrogations. According to the laws of Iran, it is illegal to place the defendant under pressure and torture him/her, and such acts are regarded as a crime. Any confession extracted under duress is devoid of legal substance as well. Article 38 of the Iranian Constitution as well as some Iranian civil laws explicitly state as much, and even designate extracting confessions under torture as a crime and the individuals who commit such acts as criminals (Article 578 of the Islamic Penal Code). As such, the court completely acted against the law by referring to the confession that was extracted under torture. It was necessary for the court to thoroughly research the case and issue its verdict on the basis of hard evidence.

According to Iranian laws, the crime of moharebeh is committed when an individual or a group take up arms and conduct military activities in order to oppose the state or for disturbing the public order. In other words, armed activities are the main component of the crime of moharebeh. This is while the defendant of this case did not possess any weapons.  According to one of his acquaintances, the private plaintiff had even said in court that Mr. Seyedi was not his attempted assassin. As such, the Revolutionary Court issued its death sentence solely on the basis of the confessions extracted under torture and without ascertaining whether the defendant had indeed conducted armed activities.

According to the available information and the statements of Mr. Seyedi’s acquaintances, Mr. Seyedi did not have access to defense for the major part of his trial, and the government-appointed lawyer did not make an effective defense of him in court either. According to Iranian laws, all defendants may be accompanied by a lawyer during all the stages of their trial and avail themselves of the services of a lawyer. This is while Mr. Seyedi was absolutely denied the right to have a lawyer during his stay in the Intelligence detention center. This was completely against the law, because the presence of a lawyer is absolutely necessary for the crime of moharebeh to be established. According to Note 1 of Article 186 of the Law of Due Process in Public and Revolutionary Courts in Criminal Affairs: “In crimes whose punishment according to the law is retaliation, execution, stoning or life imprisonment, if the defendant does not name a lawyer, the government is obliged to appoint a lawyer for the defendant.” Although it is not immediately clear from this statement whether the appointment of the lawyer applies to all stages of initial investigation and trial or only to court proceedings, in the case of Mr. Seyedi the major part of the criminal case was processed without the presence of a lawyer.

Judgment

One of the branches of the Revolutionary Court of Zahedan sentenced Mr. Salaheddin Seyedi to death along with the other defendant in the case sometime during November/December of 2008. After Mr. Seyedi’s appeal was overruled, the verdict was validated by the Supreme Court (Fars News Agency, March 3, 2009; Kayhan daily, March 4, 2009).

Mr. Seyedi was hanged along with his fellow defendant in Zahedan Central Prison on the morning of March 3, 2009.

His mother, who lived far away, arrived late to the prison. Authorities did not allow her to see her son for the last time.

The security forces did not deliver Mr. Seyedi’s body to his family for funeral, and instead took the body to Zahedan’s Behesht-e Mohammadi Cemetery under security measures accompanied by Mr. Seyedi’s family (ABC interview).

Two days after Mr. Seyedi’s execution, his family went to court to receive his personal belongings. However, the authorities insulted them instead and drove them away without giving them Mr. Seyedi’s belongings (ABC interview).

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*The Hanafi sect is a branch of Sunni Islam that follows the teachings of Abu Hanifeh Na’man Bin Sabet, one of the four Imams of Islam’s Sunnat and Jama’at. The Hanafi religion has the most followers among the four Sunni branches and follows the teachings of Mohammad, Abu Bakr, Omar, Osman, and Ali.

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