Opposition to Amir Hossein Moradi's presence at his father's funeral

Babak Paknia, the lawyer for Amir Hossein Moradi, one of the detainees from the November 2019 protests in Iran who was sentenced to death, said in an interview with the Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that Mr. Moradi's presence at his father's funeral was opposed.

Mr. Paknia told the campaign that the funeral of Amir Hossein Moradi's father has been stopped to allow him to attend the ceremony, but his efforts to have Amir Hossein Moradi attend have so far been unsuccessful.

Nasser Moradi, the father of Amir Hossein Moradi, committed suicide on Monday, October 28. Amir Hossein Moradi’s mother told the Telegram channel Emtahad that her husband was found in the basement of the house after committing suicide and that he “constantly talked about his son until the last moment and wished that one day they would all sit at the same table again.”

Mr. Paknia described Amir Hossein Moradi’s mental state as very bad and told the campaign: “Amir Hossein is in very bad condition in prison. It is very obvious that someone whose father commits suicide, especially because of the pressures of the case he is in prison, would be devastated. We tried very hard and I spoke to the judge supervising the prison to be able to have Amir Hossein present for his father’s funeral because the law says that this is one of the cases in which a prisoner can be sent at least under custody, but even though our request is legal, it has not been agreed to so far. We have stopped the funeral of his father’s body so that Amir Hossein can attend, but they say it is not possible due to security issues and they are afraid that people will gather and Amir Hossein will be there. So far, they have not given this permission and have said that you can conduct the funeral and then we will allow him to visit his father’s grave and his house. But our effort is for this child to be able to see his father for the last time before the burial, but so far we have not succeeded.”

Amirhossein Moradi, Saeed Tamjidi, and Mohammad Rajabi were sentenced to death on March 25, 2019, by Judge Salavati, head of Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, on charges of “participating in destruction and arson with the intention of opposing the Islamic Republic of Iran and Moharebeh” and to imprisonment and flogging on charges of “armed robbery capable of causing harm at night.” Their death sentences were upheld by the Supreme Court, while the lawyers of the three detainees in the November protests did not have access to their files. After the rise of public protests on social media, which became very newsworthy with the hashtag #عداد_نگنید, the lawyers of the three young men sentenced to death announced that the execution of their clients’ sentences had been suspended for the time being and that their cases were to be reviewed again.

Babak Paknia, Amir Hossein Moradi's lawyer, told the campaign that the reason for Mr. Moradi's suicide was the great psychological pressure that his family faced after his arrest and death sentence, and that it has intensified in recent weeks after the execution of Navid Afkari.

Mr. Paknia explained: “The family of Amir Hossein Moradi was under pressure for months. It is natural that when your child is sentenced to death, you are under pressure and you are not in a good mental state. Then there was the false atmosphere that was raised against these children who committed murder and it was all a lie, but they played with the reputation of a family. We also knew that the pressure had a destructive and negative effect on the family and we tried to calm them down by talking to the family. When the sentence was stopped and the case was processed, they finally agreed to give the case to us lawyers and the case was being processed, but some people had started calling the families falsely. After the execution of Navid Afkari’s sentence, which was very negative, the families were afraid that the children might be executed and we had no idea. They were really worried and we calmed them down again, but unfortunately a journalist from abroad called the family saying that they were being executed and were on the death row and the lawyers were lying. While the Supreme Court had issued a stay of execution for these children, the family "They were scared and the pressure on the family increased dramatically. My colleague went to Mr. Moradi's house for three hours and talked to him and calmed him down, but in the end the family could only bear the pressure to a certain extent and this unfortunate incident happened."

Amir Hossein Moradi's lawyer told the campaign: "Numerous reporters called, but the family told us that one reporter kept calling and saying that your child is on death row and if you don't talk, you will take his body. The number and name of this reporter are available, and I will tell them to give me their father's phone number and I will announce these numbers and messages."

The case of Amir Hossein Moradi, Saeed Tamjidi, and Mohammad Rajabi is still in the Supreme Court. Mr. Paknia told the campaign: “The case is still in Branch 1 of the Supreme Court. The head of this branch is also the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He issued the stay of the sentence. The hearing in the court is almost over. We are waiting for the case to be referred to the same branch of the Revolutionary Court. The same branch has not been determined yet, but two judges in the Revolutionary Court will rehear the case. At least, our hope is that Judge Salavati and Judge Amuzadeh will no longer be able to hear this case because they have already issued the death sentence and the sentence issued by them has been overturned.”

During the November protests in Iran, which began on Friday, November 14, 2019, in protest of the sudden increase in gasoline prices in various cities, according to the then-spokesperson for the National Security Commission of the Parliament, more than 7,000 protesters were arrested. Radio Farda, however, reported the arrest of at least 8,600 people in 22 provinces of Iran. The Human Rights Campaign’s review of information published by officials and official media outlets, as well as informed sources in various cities, indicates that the number of arrests made across the country is much higher than the figure announced by Naqvi Hosseini, the then-spokesperson for the National Security Commission of the Parliament, which, given the lack of information and the widespread street arrests that could not be monitored, does not allow for accurate statistics.

Source: Human Rights Campaign