Reza Rasai, a 34-year-old man from Sahneh County, Kermanshah Province, West Iran, had participated in recent nationwide rallies. He joined supporters of a Kurdish spiritual leader, Seyed Khalil Alinezhad on November 18, 2022, to commemorate his anniversary. The peaceful gathering was violently attacked by the Revolutionary Guards-IRGC, followed by Iran’s intelligence forces. The IRGC’s Intelligence Chief of Sahneh County, Nader Beirami, was killed in the attack. He then went to Karaj, close to the country’s capital, and was arrested on November 24, 2022, in relation to the incident. Iran’s Judiciary has charged Reza Rasai with Moharebeh. It is also holding this young man responsible for the killing of Nader Beirami. The state has also condemned Mr. Rasai for acting against national security and attempting to escape from the police.
Since his arrest to date, Mr. Rasai has been subjected to the most brutal torture. The torturers have broken Reza’s toes and his ribs to force him to confess to the killing. He has been tortured so much that he cannot walk but denied his right to any medical care. Reza Rasai is held in Ward 7 of Dizel Abad Prison in Kermanshah. Prison authorities had transferred him to the Intelligence services every day and subjected him to severe torture and forced him to make a false confession. From the day of his arrest to present, Iran’s Judiciary has not held even one trial for this detainee.
Authorities verbally notified Reza Rasai and his family of Reza’s sentence to Moharebeh. The Rasai family is denied permission to apply for a lawyer and cannot inquire about the legal procedures. The family has been told that the case contains security matters and that they must wait until the day of trial.
On November 24, 2022, Reza Rasai peacefully participated in the gathering by holding a placard with the slogan, Woman-Life-Freedom, and ‘No to mass murder.’ Reza’s face was not covered and by the footage captured on the governor’s office cameras, Reza was recognized. This county is small and though in the video Reza is not seen carrying out any act of violence, he was somebody that many knew well. Therefore, he was arrested.
Reza Rasai was born on February 24, 1989, and carries a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He lost his father at the age of eleven and grew up with great hardship and is currently the family’s breadwinner. IRGC forces strongly control the Rasai family and are pressured. They physically attacked Reza’s mother and arrested his brother. Reza’s elderly mother now hugs his clothes and cries all day. Until today, 30 people have been taken away or arrested for the killing of Nader Beirami. Well respected individuals in the county have been tortured, who have not even met Nader Beirami in person, and had only addressed the gathered crowd.
According to a witness, the moment Nader Beirami was killed, and the crowd surrounded him, Reza stood next to me with a placard. He went forward to see what had happened. I had recently been beaten and injured. Reza wanted to be by my side and help. He was not involved at all. They recognized him because he had previously campaigned to release his cousin (his uncle’s son,) who had political activities. So, they arrested him immediately.
Seyed Khalil Alinezhad, a religious leader of the Yarsani minority, also known as Ahl-e Haqq (People of truth). He was assassinated in Sweden in 2001. After that, every year his supporters gather at his gravestone. This year, when respectful leaders of this Iranian minority protested the killing of Kian Pirfalak, they were shown strict violence by state forces. The Ahl-e Haqq minority in Iran is not recognized as an independent religion by the regime’s Constitution. Its adherents are deprived of many political and social rights.
