Emotional Interview with the Lawyer of Executed Prisoners: “I Am Speechless”

In an interview with Aso Saleh from Nowrooz TV on May 11, 2010, Khalil Bahramian , the lawyer of executed political prisoners Farzad Kmangar and Shirin Alam Hooli, explained the pain that he and the families are going through in their efforts to retrieve the bodies of the executed political prisoners from security forces to hold funerals.






Khalil Bahrami said that on the morning of May 11, 2010, he was in the Revolutionary Court to retrieve the executed bodies. He stated that after help from the judge, the case of retrieving the bodies was finally referred to the national security committee. Bahramian explained that he has informed the court his willingness to accept full responsibility for the funeral and has guaranteed that there would be no problems.

Bahramian stated that he is still in shock and cannot believe the disaster. He said that he is hoping to get the bodies back by May 12, 2010 so Farzad Kamangar’s will, which states that he is to be buried in his hometown, be fulfilled. He added that at the moment, all five bodies are still in Kahrizak and the judge’s secretary has not granted permission for the release of the bodies.

Aso Saleh asked Bahramian whether this is the normal process for retrieving bodies and whether it is in accordance to the law that the National Security Committee needs to have a meeting before releasing the executed bodies for funeral purposes. Bahramian answered that it is not possible to question the law at the moment. Bahramian explained that this ordeal has come to be because of Ayatollah Larijani, since the case should have been referred to the Supreme Court, according to section 18 of law.

Bahramian added that when he was in Tehran on May 10, 2010, the court discovered that their request to send the case to the Supreme Court was ignored. He then explained that Saeed Mortazavi never sent any of the reports since a year and a half ago to Mr. Shahroudi.

Bahramian stated that he is speechless and cannot answer to the families why the young political prisoners have been executed.

Aso Saleh asked Bahramian if he had any plans to follow up on the case, since the executions were against the law and the case was not finalized at the time the prisoners were executed. Bahramian replied that there is no point since they have all been already executed.

Bahramian explained that Shirin Alam Hooli had told him that she planned to continue her studies at university. Bahramian then began to cry. Through his tears, Bahramian said that Shirin Alan Hooli was an ordinary young woman who was not able to speak Persian (she spoke Kurdish), but the security officers still filled out the confession papers (in Persian), claiming it was Shirin Alam Hooli’s confession. Bahramian explained that section 168 of the law states that these cases must be presented in a public court with the presence of a jury.

Bahramian asked, “How is it possible that they could execute five innocent people based on one person’s orders?” He added, “I am asking this judge who has ordered the execution, even if they where guilty (which they were not), is it still reasonable to execute them? Would you do the same to your son or daughter? Farzad was one of the most honourable citizens and I can’t believe this is how his life ended.”

Translation: Banoo Sabz Persian2English.com