Sister of Mohammad Hashemdar: We Demand the Identification of His Killer

Poran Hashemdar, sister of Mohammad Hashemdar who was killed by a gunshot in Behbahan on Saturday, November 25, spoke to the Human Rights Campaign in Iran, stating that her family has filed a complaint and is seeking retribution against the killer or killers.

Mohammad Hashemdar’s sister told the campaign that her brother was killed by a gunshot to the throat, and in his death certificate, the cause of death is listed as “damage to vital and respiratory arteries.”

At least 6 people were killed in protests in Behbahan in November, and according to Poran Hashemdar, “In Behbahan, we filed a complaint together with the families of Farzad Ansari Far, Mohammad Hossein Gonabadi, Ehsan Abdollahnejad, and Mehrdad and Mahmoud Deshti. We want the killer to be identified and have requested retribution.”

There is no accurate figure for the number of deaths in last week’s protests in Iran. Islamic Republic officials are avoiding providing official statistics on the killed and arrested. Amnesty International has documented 304 cases, and Reuters reported on Monday, citing sources in Iran’s Interior Ministry, that approximately 1,500 people were killed during November’s protests, as well as Iran’s leader’s order to end the protests “by any means possible.”

The Human Rights Campaign in Iran stated in a statement that Iranian authorities’ use of violence against protesters in Iran, including the use of firearms and weapons, has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people, and these government actions constitute a clear and unjustifiable violation of international law and must be stopped immediately.

Poran Hashemdar told the campaign about how her brother was killed: “Mohammad left for work on Saturday morning and was supposed to make a TV stand for a lady. It had gotten crowded, but we were at home and didn’t know. My older brother called and said the city was very crowded and told Mohammad to stay home and not go out. But around 10:30 in the morning, Mohammad had already left the house. I contacted him and he said he had gone out but all the shops were closed. He was surprised. He had gone to shop and go to work. I told him just come home and don’t go out. Our last call was at 11:53. I called again and he said he was coming home and that was our last goodbye.”

Mohammad Hashemdar’s sister told the campaign: “At 3:05 they came to my mother’s house and took him to the hospital. They had taken my brother on a motorcycle to the hospital in the condition he was in, bent over, barely coming through the doorway. But because he had been shot, they had taken him on a motorcycle, and the person who had taken him to the hospital came with that same motorcycle and bloodstained clothes that were my Mohammad’s blood and took my mother. At 3:22 I went to the hospital and found out my brother was in the morgue. We understood nothing else except that Mohammad had gone to work and now was in the morgue.”

According to his sister, Mohammad Hashemdar was 33 years old and had been married for 5 years, but was the caregiver for his mother and his brother who has Down syndrome. Poran Hashemdar told the campaign: “My brother has Down syndrome and his whole life was under Mohammad’s support. Mohammad was his caregiver and now he thinks Mohammad went on a trip, went to Ahvaz, and is waiting for him to return.”

Mohammad Hashemdar’s sister told the campaign: “We didn’t have any problem getting our brother’s body. The body was sent to Ahvaz and returned and handed over to us. They didn’t take money or any commitment. But what do we do with Mohammad’s grief? We burned and suffered. We held the funeral simply. We also did the forty-day ceremony the same way. Perhaps because we didn’t bury our brother in Behbahan, and because our sister Mansouriyeh was buried in the areas around Behbahan, my mother said he should be next to my sister. No one has come so far to ask how we are doing. We are really in very special circumstances. Everyone, we have filed a complaint demanding retribution. We want our brother’s killer to be identified and we will seek retribution.”

Source: Human Rights Campaign