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

Jihand Rigi

About

Age: 27
Nationality: Iran
Religion: Presumed Muslim
Civil Status: Unknown

Case

Date of Killing: February 4, 2015
Location of Killing: Zahedan Prison, Zahedan, Sistan Va Baluchestan Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Hanging
Charges: Unknown charge

About this Case

News of the execution of Mr. Jihand Rigi was published on the websites of the Human Rights and Democracy Activists in Iran on February 4, 2015 and Baluchcampaign (Baluch Activists) on March 2, 2015. Additional information was taken from the website of the Human Rights and Democracy Activists in Iran on March 23 and September 7, 2013, and February 13 and November 3, 2014. Mr. Rigi, 27, was a Baluch political activist.      

Arrest and detention

Mr. Rigi was arrested by security agents and transferred to the Zahedan Intelligence Office prison in 2010. (Human Rights and Democracy Activists in Iran, September 7, 2013) He was detained in solitary confinement and tortured physically and psychologically by the interrogators of the Intelligence Ministry for several months. After receiving his sentence, he was transferred to the Public Section of the Zahedan Central Prison. During his detention, he objected to the prison conditions several times. Once he resisted wearing a worn woman’s dress full of lice and was transferred to solitary confinement where he was tortured. According to the Baluchcampaign website, before his execution Mr. Rigi spent some times in the Chahbahar Prison in exile. Overall, he was detained for four years without an attorney.

Trial

Branch One of the Revolutionary Court of Zahedan tried Mr. Rigi in a few minutes’ session. (Human Rights and Democracy Activists in Iran on February 4, 2015)

Charges

No information is available on Mr. Rigi’s charges.     

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 Islamic Republic authorities have brought trumped-up charges against their political opponents and executed them for alleged 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 does not contain information regarding the evidence provided against Mr. Rigi. However, according to the reports, the interrogators of the Intelligence Ministry tortured and forced him to confess against his will. (Human Rights and Democracy Activists in Iran)  

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. 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 about Mr. Rigi’s defense.  

Judgment

Branch One of the Revolutionary Court of Zahedan condemned Mr. Jihand Rigi to death and 10 years imprisonment. He was hanged in the presence of the Public Prosecutor of Zahedan, the Head of Branch One of the Revolutionary Court of Zahedan, and his interrogator, at the Zahedan Central Prison on February 4, 2015 at dawn.        

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