Mother of young man sentenced to death expresses her anguish

The mother of a man sentenced to death by the Islamic regime's Revolutionary Court gave a poignant interview to the Voice of America's Newstalk program on Tuesday night, January 5, 2010. (Video and translation at the end of this report)

Ahmad Karimi, a young carpenter accused of being a ringleader in the post-election unrest in Iran and a member of the Anjomaneh Padeshahi (Monarchist Association), was sentenced to death on December 28, 2009, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency.

Judge Mohammad Mogheiseh, who presides the 28th branch of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, called Karimi a mohareb, an individual who fights against God, and delivered this verdict even though the young man was arrested before the presidential election of June 12. Karimi had been forced to testify against himself in the infamous show trials of the past months.

Judge Mohammad Mogheiseh, also known as Mogheisieh and Nasserian, was one of the tight circle of prosecutors and judges responsible for the mass executions of thousands of political prisoners in the late 1980s. He was prosecutor at Gohardasht and Evin prisons at the time and operated under the name Nasserian, according to sources who wish to remain anonymous.

Khalil Bahramian

The court informed Khalil Bahramian, Karimi's lawyer, of the death sentence. Bahramian is a prominent human rights lawyer and represented Karimi pro bono. Hamed Rouhinehad, another client of Bahramian, was sentenced to death in the same case in October. In an interview published on November 6, Bahramian said the following concerning his clients:

I have submitted papers to the country's high court [to appeal Rouhinejad's death sentence]. In the meetings I had with [Rouhinejad] in prison, I observed that he suffers from multiple sclerosis and both of his hands are almost paralyzed. After writing for a few minutes both his hands become completely useless and he has to wait for a while before resuming his writing. His right eye is blind. This individual is handicapped and is not able to engage in activities against the country or politics. [...] The verdict that was issued does not conform to the law and I believe that it was guided by politics. They brought them before the court alongside those accused of being involved in the post-election unrest. I believe that Mr. [Saeed] Mortazavi, the prosecutor at the time, acted as he usually does and tried to build a weighty scenario and engineer a trial to create an untrue picture in the minds of the Iranian people. These people had nothing to do with the post-election protests and were arrested before [those events]. I can clearly say that neither Mr. Ali Zamani (NB Another defendant in the case who was sentenced to death), nor my two clients were members or supporters of that organization (NB The Monarchist Association), nor did they even know about that organization. They were just three young men, and a small child, Mr. Zamani's child, who went to Iraq and planned to go abroad from there. Because of a lack of funds and other problems, [Rouhinejad] and Ahmad Karimi returned to Iran in coordination with the Intelligence Ministry and honestly told the authorities everything that had happened. [...] I hope that the high court judges, whose attitude in security cases so far has been to blindly confirm verdicts without reading the files, will not veer from their consciences, their God, and their beliefs and that they will not submit to the political climate. [I hope] that they will not issue a verdict to please a few individuals but for which they will have to answer tomorrow to the Iranian people and almighty God. (For an in-depth description in Farsi of the regime's bogus case against these individuals and others accused of fomenting violence in support of the Monarchist Association, please click here)

A translation follows the video:



Note: Without being disdainful in any way, it is worth mentioning that Mrs. Karimi has an accent from Azerbaijan province and employs a working-class syntax. I only point this out as class and politics are often mentioned in the same breath by some Iran experts who still maintain the fallacy that the Islamic regime has been a defender of the oppressed and that the opponents of the regime are middle-class Tehran residents.

Host Jamshid Chalangi: 
Mr. Ahmad Karimi is a young Iranian who is in prison. He has been sentenced to death. He was jailed before the [presidential] election. His mother is on the line with us. Greetings. Mrs. Karimi, why was your son arrested?

Ahmad Karimi's mother:
What was that?

Host Jamshid Chalangi:
Why was your son arrested?

Ahmad Karimi's mother:
Because, dear sir, a man fooled my son. He told him, Let's go abroad for work. Can you hear me?

Host Jamshid Chalangi:
Yes, we can hear you, dear Mrs. Karimi.

Ahmad Karimi's mother:
A man made a proposal, said, Let's go abroad to work. He left with my son. They went there and weren't able to find work. When his daddy died, [my son] came back to Iran. He came back with Intelligence officials. Then he came here and identified himself to Intelligence. Do you have the sound of my voice, Mr. Haji (NB Someone who has gone on the Hajj pilgrimage)?

Host Jamshid Chalangi:
Yes, we do. Don't worry. Please go on.

Ahmad Karimi's mother:
He identified himself and [they] said, You're free. Go and put your head down and live your life. After six or seven months, they raided the house at midnight, it was before the elections. They raided our house and I felt ill and my child felt ill. They ransacked our house and didn't find anything. They didn't find anything and took my child away. For two months, no one gave me any answers wherever I went. Two months. After two months, my child called and said, Mother, I am all right. I asked, Where are you? He said, I can't tell you. He said, I can't tell you. After hat call, I didn't know where to go. They don't give any response. I go to the prison and they don't tell me anything.

Host Jamshid Chalangi:
You mean you didn't see Ahmad?

Ahmad Karimi's mother:
No, they wouldn't give any visits. For five, six months, they didn't give me any answers. After five, six months, Mr. Bahramian... We got Mr. Bahramian as a lawyer. Mr. Bahramian spoke to them and I went with him and I got one visit. They broke our door. He was my breadwinner.

Host Jamshid Chalangi: 
How was your child when you saw him? You may observe things with your maternal instincts...

Ahmad Karimi's mother:
He's not bad. He's a bit better. But we're in bad health. I have heart problems, Mr. Haji. I swear to God, I can't stand this. What has my child done? I don't know what he's done. They should give a reason. He's been on trial for two months. After two months of not giving any answers, they took him twice to the examining magistrate. Now they tell me, Your child will be executed. (begins weeping) What should I do? Where should I go, sir? What must I do, Mr. Haji, please God... Wherever I go, no one gives any answers. The Islamic Republic has taken away my bread. He was my breadwinner. My child is innocent.

Host Jamshid Chalangi: 
So Ahmad was your family's breadwinner?

Ahmad Karimi's mother:
Yes, yes, he's my family's breadwinner. I swear to God, my son-in-law is paying for me now. What should I do? Where can I find money?

Host Jamshid Chalangi: 
Have you seen anyone to save your child from execution?

Ahmad Karimi's mother:
We just got a lawyer. He's human rights. I had no money to get a lawyer. I had no money to get a lawyer. I went to the court twice and they don't respond to me. They give no answers wherever I go. Wher must I go? He's my child. They fooled my child. Mr. Haji, honorable sir, they got a confession from my child. They fooled him. They said, Say these things and we'll give you freedom tomorrow or the day after. We'll free you. He said those things and they gave him a death sentence. I swear to God, I didn't know. The kids are saying, Your child has a death sentence. (starts weeping) What am I to do? My child has been executed (sic). What am I to do? Me and my family's breadwinner... Where should I go, what should I do? Is this the Islamic Republic? Is this law? Is this a government? What am I to do? (weeps) My child has been sentenced to death. What has he done for them to give him a death sentence? His daddy's not here to look into this, he has no older brother to look into this.What can I do?

Host Jamshid Chalangi: 
What do you ask of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Mr. Ali Khamenei, dear mother?

Ahmad Karimi's mother:
Who's going to take me to Khamenei?

Host Jamshid Chalangi: 
He may hear what you're saying here. Or government officials or other officials may hear what you're saying here.

Ahmad Karimi's mother:
I don't know. They won't let me see Mr. Khamanei. The President... the Islamic Republic has taken away my bread, I swear to God. What should I do, where should I go? Why are they executing my child? What has he done? I don't know what he's done. He was arrested before the election. So someone told him, Let's go abroad to work and make money. They left and didn't succeed. His father died and he came back. Intelligence and officials knew he came back. He didn't do anything illegal. He doesn't know about politics. We don't know about politics, I swear to God. He's a carpentry laborer. Is this life? You just destroy someone like this. I swear to God, I have heart problems right now. I have no money to see a doctor. I can't get any money... What should I do, where should I go? He worked as a carpenter and brought money home. What am I to do? Tell me what's going to happen to me, government! The government must release my child. He's innocent.