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

Rasul Yusefi

About

Age: 21
Nationality: Iran
Religion: Non-Believer
Civil Status: Unknown

Case

Date of Killing: September 25, 1981
Location of Killing: Tabriz, Azarbaijan-e Sharqi Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Shooting

About this Case

News of the execution of Mr. Rasul Yusefi, son of Qanbarali, along with thirty-four others, was published in theKayhan newspaper on September 28, 1981. The Public Relations Department of the Central Public Prosecutor’s Office announced these executions, the defendants' names and their charges, and released it to the Pars news agency.

Mr. Rasul Yusefi is 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.

Mr. Rasul Yusefi is one of the 12,028 individuals listed in an addendum to the Mojahed magazine (No 261), published by the Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) on September 6, 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.

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

No information is available on the defendant’s trial.

Charges

The Islamic Revolutionary Court of Tabriz announced the charges against Mr. Rasul Yusefi as, "possession of weapons and explosives, uprising against the Islamic Republic, belief in armed combat against the Islamic Republic, and participation in plotting assassinations and explosions." These charges were collective for five sympathizers of Peykar. These defendants were also charged for activity in an American group.

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. Rasul Yusefi's defense.

Judgment

The Islamic Revolutionary Court of Tabriz condemned Mr. Rasul Yusefi to death. The ruling was carried out in Tabriz between September 23 to 25, 1981. The list of MKO declared his execution date 25 September. No specific information is available about this execution.

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