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

Ali Karam Jalilian

About

Nationality: Iran
Religion: Presumed Muslim
Civil Status: Unknown

Case

Date of Killing: November 15, 1985
Location of Killing: Dizel Abad Prison, Bakhtaran, Bakhtaran Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Unspecified execution method
Charges: Economic offenses

About this Case

The execution of Mr. Ali Karam Jalilian, son of Gholam, along with 4 others, was reported in the Kayhan daily on November 17, 1985.

Arrest and detention

The circumstances of this defendant’s arrest and detention are not known.

Trial

No information is available on the defendant’s trial.

Charges

According to the newspaper’s report, Mr. Jalilian and four other individuals were collectively charged with “extortion and inhuman activities through terrorizing people with weapons.”

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’s authorities have brought trumped-up charges against their political opponents and executed them for 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 report of this execution refers to the confession of the accused as evidence provided against the defendants.

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. Jalilian’s defense.

Judgment

The Islamic Revolutionary Tribunal of Bakhtaran (Kermanshah) sentenced Mr. Ali Karam Jalilian to death. The Supreme Judicial Council approved the sentence. He and four other individuals were executed at Dizel Abad prison in Bakhtaran on November 15, 1985.

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