Mahmoud Hassani was born in 1964 in Shahrood, north Iran.
After high school he was accepted in Tehran university in Economics. In 1981 Mahmoud learned about the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and started supporting the opposition group by entering in politics. He became an active member of university of Tehran student branch.
He was arrested in 1981 and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
In prison (where there was no access to the PMOI resources), he was famous as “PMOI’s Bank Information” among the prisoners, for that any question there was an answer in his good memory.
One of his cellmates said, in September 1981he was with Mahmoud in one cell in Evin prison. One night at around 8pm they called Mahmoud and at 9pm we could hear executions by firing squad and the number of single shots by the squad’s officer.
Mahmoud came back at 10pm but he was very disturbed and his face red disheveled and upset. He explained to us that his mother was relative to Assadollah Lajevardi (then prosecutor of Tehran known as the butcher of Evin prison), and that night Lajevardi told him that your mother requested your freedom, but your freedom is subject to be part of firing squads and single shots of other prisoners.
Mahmoud refused and Lajevardi didn’t agree to release him.
Eventually, Mahmoud Hassani was executed in August 1988.
He was among the first 60 prisoners who were executed during the massacre.
Revolutionary guards warned his family of no religious ceremony or any advertisement or speeches in memory of his death when they bring the news of his execution to them.
A Crime Against Humanity
The Facts
- In 1988, the Iranian regime massacred 30,000 political prisoners.
- The executions took place based on a fatwa by Supreme Leader Khomeini.
- Three-member commissions known as ‘Death Commissions’ were formed across Iran sending political prisoners who refused to abandon their beliefs to execution.
- The victims were buried in secret mass graves.
- The perpetrators continue to enjoy impunity.
- Since 2016, the names of nearly 100 ‘Death Commission’ members have been revealed. Many still hold senior positions in the Iranian judiciary or government.
The Human Rights Council needs to conduct an international investigation into the 1988 massacre. This would be the first step to end the impunity for the officials, agents and those who ordered the largest political crime of the century.
Khamenei and other leaders of the regime need to be prosecuted and face justice for committing crimes against humanity.
