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

Mojgan Asadian

About

Age: 15
Nationality: Iran
Religion: Non-Believer
Civil Status: Single

Case

Date of Killing: December 23, 1980
Location of Killing: Department of Education, Khoramabad, Lorestan Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Arbitrary shooting

About this Case

She was a role model for children in her family and in her neighborhood. She was only 15.

Information about the arbitrary execution of Miss Mojgan Asadian, daughter of Khadijeh and Ahmad, has been gathered from an interview with one of her relatives, conducted by Boroumand Center (January 14, 2024), and also from an electronic form sent to Boroumand Center by one of her relatives (January 22, 2024). Additional information about this execution was collected from an interview with Mr. Reza Moeini, conducted by Iran Wire website (August 17, 2021), Bidaran Websites (March 1, 2009; June 29, 2011), and Tudeh Party of Iran (2022).

Miss Asadian was 15 years old. She was single and had been born in Khoramabad, Lorestan. She was in the tenth grade, at Tal’at Dolatshahi High School in Khoramabad. Because of her political activities, she had been expelled from school. She was a supporter of the People’s Faithful Organization of Iran, and she was active in the student section of this organization, “Pishgam”.

Miss Asadian was a talented young lady. She was cheerful, very smart, humble, and down to earth. Since childhood, she loved reading and the theater. She was one of the first people to go to the “Center for Intellectual Development of Children and Teenagers”. She acted in plays and skits. In the early days of the revolution, she played the title role in the play “The Little Black Fish”. Mojgan also played the santour (dulcimer) very well. She had very good handwriting, and later on when she was a Pishgam student, she did a lot of Wall writing [writing slogans on walls] and Banner Writing. Mojgan was a role model for her cousins, friends, and neighbors, even though she was not that much older (Abdorrahman Boroumand Center interview with one of her relatives). 

The Fadayian Khalq Guerrilla Organization

The Fadayian Khalq Guerrilla Organization, a Marxist Leninist group inspired by the Cuban Revolution and the urban guerrilla movements of Latin America, was founded in 1971 by two communist groups opposed to the Pahlavi regime. Following the 1979 revolution, the Organization, which had renounced armed struggle, split over their support of the Islamic Republic and of the Soviet Union. A number of the Organization’s members, who did not renounce armed struggle, founded the group the Fadayian Khalq Guerrillas (Ashraf Dehqani Branch).

Miss Mojgan Asadian’s Arbitrary Execution 

According to available information, on Monday, December 22, 1980, Miss Asadian was participating in a peaceful demonstration in fromt of the Education Office of Khoramabad, Lorestan. They were protesting the expulsion of herself and other students and also their high school physics teacher. She was shot and killed by armed plain clothes supporters of the Islamic Republic Party. She was shot from behind, in the neck area. According to an informed eye witness, who had been there on the day of the incident, Miss Asadian “was killed on the street by Majid Jazayeri, aided and abetted by Azim Moradi, member of the Revolutionary Guard and Islamic Republic Party in Khoramabad, in full view of her fellow students and several townspeople.” (Bidaran website, March 1, 2009)

Miss Asadian had been severely injured. They initially took her to Khoramabad Hospital. In order to remove the bullet, her parents had to take her to a hospital in Arak. She passed away that same night.

They were supposed to take her body to Khezr Cemetery in Khoramabad the next morning, but the family was not able to have her released to them in Arak. According to an eye witness, a large group had congregated at the entrance to Khezr Cemetery, along with supporters of political groups in the town, from morning until it got dark. In the evening, they were informed that Miss Asadian’s body would arrive the following day, and the assemblage left the area. A few hours later, the family and a few close relatives laid her to rest at Khezr Cemetery (Abdorrahman Boroumand Center interview with one of her relatives).

Ceremonies commemorating the third day after her passing were disrupted due to pressure from armed plain clothes agents, and they were not able to perform these ceremonies. 

Officials’ Reaction

According to available information, when Miss Asadian was taken to Khoramabad Hospital with severe wounds, armed agents attacked the hospital, fired guns, and caused people to disperse: “Armed thugs attacked the hospital. They fired everywhere and fired towards our group, but nobody was hurt. The whole group dispersed, and we ran away, friends and strangers alike.” (Abdorrahman Boroumand interview with one of her relatives)

When Miss Asadian passed away in Arak, officials did not release her body the next morning, so that they could take her to Khoramabad for her funeral. They forced the family to lay her to rest at night.

During the ceremonies for the third day after her passing, which were taking place at Khezr Cemetery, armed supporters of the government attacked the attendees. They fired on the family, friends, and relatives. They beat and assaulted them, so that they left and the ceremonies could not be carried out. That night, they fired on Miss Asadian’s home, and during this incident, her father was shot in the leg (Abdorrahman Boroumand Center interview with one of her relatives).

When Miss Asadian’s parents tried to seek justice, officials closed ranks and threatened them. One time, they even started to shoot guns in the air in front of the Lorestan Courthouse, in order to frighten the family. After a period of threats from the officials, the case was somehow closed in the Tehran Judiciary.

Officials also expelled Miss Asadian’s sister and brother from their chosen school and forced them to finish their high school education at a lower quality school. This caused them to fall behind in their higher education opportunities. The officials even had a petition signed by some officials, townspeople, and some neighbors, stating that “this family continues to be communist”, in order to put the family under more pressure (Abdorrahman Boroumand Center interview with one of her relatives).

The people who killed Miss Asadian were never arrested or punished. 

Family’s Reaction

In the beginning, Miss Asadian’s family filed complaints against the high school principal, Ms. Delaram, the Head of the Education Department at the time, Ayatollah Meshkini, and the killers. This case was sent to the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Khoramabad. According to a relative, from the very outset the Revolutionary Guards, headed by a person named Foroutan, prevented the investigation into this killing, and they threatened Miss Asadian’s family. In spite of the threats, the family continued to pursue this investigation, “and they persevered by contacting different organizations, including the Islamic Congressional Judicial Department, the Judiciary in Tehran, and by writing letters to the heads of these organizations and to the president at the time, and by meeting with them”. The family even went to the office of Auatollah Montazeri in Qom. (Abdorrahman Boroumand Center interview with one of her relatives).

In spite of all these efforts, the case on the arbitrary execution of Miss Asadian was closed. Her father was not able to continue. Her mother continued her efforts, but to no avail.

Impacts on Family

According to available information, the arbitrary execution of Miss Asadian had a severe effect on the family. After she was killed, her parents were broken hearted and the family never experienced real joy again. According to a relative, her loss turned their home into a “barren desert”. After this tragedy, the family was no longer “really happy”. Her mother, “after all these years, still straightens up her clothes and some of her stuff that remains to them. A lot of her books and several of her notebooks were taken during the repressive years.”

There were other ramifications for the family as a result of his arbitrary execution. Miss Asadian’s sister and brother, who were expelled from their high school, were forced to continue their education by attending night classes and by taking random tests. Miss Asadian’s sister was an honor student and she was very talented. She passed the National University Entrance Exams, but she was not allowed to go to university for many years. Eventually, she was able to enter a nursing program that was not her choice.

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