Mother of Ibrahim Ketabdar: I Don’t Want Blood Money, I Want My Son’s Killer Identified

Sekineh Ahmadi, mother of Ibrahim Ketabdar who was killed on Saturday, November 16th by a bullet wound in Mahallati Abadi, Kianshahr, Karaj, told the Campaign for Human Rights in Iran in an interview that he was shot in the heart in front of his workplace with his hands in his pockets and was killed.

In Ibrahim Ketabdar’s death certificate, according to his mother, it is written “bullet wound to the heart outside of conflict.”

Sekineh Ahmadi, mother of Ibrahim Ketabdar, told the Campaign that she neither wants blood money nor allows her son to be declared a martyr, and her only demand is the identification of his killer.

There are no precise statistics on the number of people killed in last week’s protests in Iran. Islamic Republic officials are avoiding releasing official figures on the number of killed and detained. Reuters reported on Monday, citing sources in Iran’s Interior Ministry, that approximately 1,500 people were killed during the November protests and also reported the order from Iran’s leader to end the protests “by any means possible.”

The Campaign for Human Rights in Iran stated in a statement that the use of violence by Iranian officials 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.

Ibrahim Ketabdar was 30 years old and a father of two children. His mother told the Campaign how he was killed: Ibrahim had gone to his shop and was a shopkeeper. He lived with us with his wife and children. I called him to come home for lunch, and his father had also gone looking for him for lunch. But as soon as Ibrahim came out of the shop with both his hands in his pockets, they shot him in the heart. He wasn’t in any conflict, had nothing to do with the conflicts, but they targeted him. It wasn’t even ten minutes from when I called Ibrahim for lunch that someone called me and said Ibrahim had been shot. I said what do you mean he’s been shot? They said police and Basij have come here and there’s a conflict. There was no conflict at all. We are in Mahallati Abadi, Kianshahr in Karaj, near Qarchak Prison, and this is a poor neighborhood. No one was doing anything. Why did they shoot my son? I don’t know where to take my complaint.

Ibrahim Ketabdar’s mother told the Campaign: They killed my innocent son. My boy was unique in this world. He was honorable. He never wronged anyone, never bullied anyone, and never accepted bullying. He never bothered anyone, never bullied anyone, and never stepped on anyone’s feet. He was fearless and now he’s gone. They killed him and no one came to my door to say that at least my son was killed, leaving two orphans. At night I hold the children and walk through the streets singing lullabies. Two children, 4 years old and 2 years old. Muhammad’s wife is also 24 years old, and what am I left to tell her—that at such a young age they killed her husband and made her children orphans. Who will answer for this?

Sekineh Ahmadi told the Campaign about the commitment taken from Ibrahim Ketabdar’s father for handing over his body: They said your son was shot. I ran barefoot into the street. God will not accept this injustice. I ran barefoot through the street and saw it was chaos. They themselves are shooting people. They’re beating women. Anyone who passed by, they beat. They took him to Shariati Hospital, and when I arrived, I saw my child’s lifeless body on the ground, on the ceramic floor. No one paid attention. I threw myself on my child. They took me away and brought him to the morgue. Two days later they handed him over to us. They wouldn’t hand him over. We got him by force and crying and pleading and saying “O Hussain.” They had taken him to Behesht-e Sekineh and I went and cried and pleaded, saying you killed my child, give him to me. Finally they gave him. They didn’t take any money from us, but they took a commitment from Ibrahim’s father. His father is an old man and they scared him, saying don’t make noise and don’t cause trouble, we’ll give you the body. Then they said thank God we gave you the body. Why? My child wasn’t in the conflicts, hadn’t done anything, hadn’t set fire anywhere, but they set us on fire.

Ibrahim Ketabdar’s mother told the Campaign about the restrictions on her son’s forty-day commemoration: I’ve been holding ceremonies every Saturday from the first day until today. But at his forty-day commemoration, everyone wore civilian clothes and they surrounded me, Sister Sekineh. When Imam Hussein was killed, the Umayyads surrounded Zainab, and Zainab said I will go defend my brother, then they can kill me. They surrounded me too at my son’s grave. I cried out, I screamed, “Oh Hussain, Oh no.” People did nothing out of fear. Officials were everywhere, their faces masked, and they were everywhere. My heart was set on fire. People don’t stand together, people are afraid. I said I’ll hold a forty-day ceremony, people will stand with us, but people have been scared. People see us go to the grave, cry out, they leave us alone and walk away, they disappear. People are afraid, they’re arresting everyone.

When asked about Islamic Republic officials saying they will declare some of the killed as martyrs and give blood money to their families, Ibrahim Ketabdar’s mother said: On what basis would they declare my son a martyr? When they innocently shot my child in front of his own shop, what blood money can I take? I don’t want blood money. I want my son’s killer. Let them kill me but give me my son’s killer. What good is blood money to me? I have a small dervish lodge, I’ll sell it, give double the money, just give me my son’s killer so I can hit them myself and see if they accept it. Can they tolerate it? In those early days, several officials had come and talked to Ibrahim’s father. My children were upset. They left and no one came again, but they threatened to beat us and arrest my children, scaring them. Like the Pooya family whose child they killed and they arrested them and imprisoned them, they scared my children too. But I am a mother, I’ve sacrificed my life for my child and I’m not afraid of anyone. I am one person, they can’t scare me. I hold their children, I go through the streets, let them come and kill me and his children too.

Pooya Bakhtiari was a 27-year-old young man who died on Saturday, November 16th in Mehershahr, Karaj, from a direct bullet shot, and as the fortieth day of his death was approaching, members of his family were arrested.

Source: Campaign for Human Rights in Iran