Reza was sentenced to death by the “butcher of Tehran”. Now in Australia, he has “forgotten nothing”

Lina PortmanMay 28, 2024

0 5 minutes read

Key points

The late Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, was buried days after being killed in a helicopter crash.
Some who fled persecution in Iran say they wanted Raisi to be held accountable for crimes against humanity.
Advocates warn that a new presidential election in June will not result in significant changes to Iran's human rights situation.

Reza Akbari was hours away from being executed for his political activities in Iran. Nearly 40 years later, after fleeing to Australia, memories of his wait on death row still haunt him.

“Death is scary; you can't say you're not afraid. But waiting is even more stressful,” he told SBS News.

“It takes one minute to be hanged or killed in front of a firing squad. However, it's horrible to be alive and carry all the trauma and memories that constantly resonate in your dreams and flashbacks.

Akbari was one of thousands of political prisoners sentenced to death in Iran in 1988, as part of a mass execution ordered by Iranian authorities.

Reza Akbari at his home in Sydney. Credit: SBS

These individuals had already been sentenced to long prison terms but suddenly found themselves isolated from the outside world and all contact with their families.

A few months later, their families were informed of their execution.

Many experts believe these people did not receive a fair trial, and in 2018 Amnesty International called the executions “crimes against humanity.”

“They killed a lot of people emotionally”

Having spent years in Tehran's Evin prison, Akbari remembers the time he first heard rumors about the executions.

“We heard that they were killing people in the prisons. We couldn’t believe it,” he said.

“Suddenly everything started to move before my eyes… I thought that was the end of the story. For the first time in my life, I understood the meaning of slow motion.

The exact number of people killed in 1988 remains unknown. Amnesty International estimates that at least 5,000 prisoners were executed in Iran during this time.

Human Rights Watch has estimated that between 2,800 and 5,000 prisoners were executed in at least 32 cities across Iran.

Akbari said that on the day his execution was scheduled, the killings “suddenly stopped” due to internal pressure.

“We survived and I left Iran. And here I am, without forgetting anything,” he added.

“Not only did they kill people in this massacre, but they killed a lot of people emotionally and psychologically… they are criminals. »

29d0b1f0-b5d5-4fb1-8720-861a01d6f4e0.jfif

Reza Akbari in Iran. Credit: SBS

“I remember his face”

Akbari remembers seeing Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, then the country's deputy attorney general, on the day he was scheduled to be executed.

“We had a blindfold on and in the middle there was a little hole that you could see through. I saw it. I remember his face,” he said.

“He loudly told the prison director to put them in the cells individually. I'll come back on Wednesday and put an end to it.

In an interview with CBS News in September 2022, Raïssi defended the executions.

“They were murdering people, and what happened to them was exactly proportionate to what they did,” he said.

Raïssi, who died in a helicopter crash last week, was one of four members of a group known as the “death committee” by many survivors of the executions. This group decided the fate of people imprisoned for their political opinions.

“In 1988, Raïssi was involved in the death and forced disappearance of at least 5,000 prisoners. And he left a horrific legacy of human rights abuses in Iran,” Nikita White, international issues campaigner for Amnesty International Australia, told SBS News.

“He oversaw the deaths of thousands of people who were political opponents, activists and protesters. »

Some activists say it didn't stop in 1988.

“After Raisi became president in 2021, there was an increase in police surveillance of women who did not respect compulsory veil laws, and we saw the death of Mahsa Jina Amini in 2022 which led to to the Woman, Life, Liberty uprising,” White said. said.

“The violent oppression of this uprising was supervised by Raisi. This led to the detention, torture and execution of protesters.”

Iranian authorities have announced that new presidential elections will take place on June 28.

Some advocates have warned that it would not bring about any significant change in human rights.

“We have seen in recent years in Iran that many people like Raisi have not been held accountable, but have instead been praised.

“Unfortunately, we cannot expect to see changes in Iran,” White said.

“My brother was one of them”

When Raisi assumed the presidency in 2021, human rights groups called for an investigation into him for crimes against humanity.

In response to these calls, Raïssi told a press conference that as judge for the 1988 cases, “he should be applauded.”

Saba Vasefi is an expert on state violence at the University of Sydney. She escaped persecution in Iran thanks to her research on capital punishment.

“Raissi, during his four decades of career in Iran, was characterized by politically motivated extrajudicial killings, executions, forced disappearances and (and) inquisitions within the regime of the Islamic Republic,” a- she told SBS News.

“As a loyalist soldier of the regime, he rose through the ranks of power, benefiting from the bloodshed and suffering of thousands of people, including minors and adolescents. »

Shohreh Entesari is still demanding justice for her brother Farshid, executed in 1988 at the age of 34.

This prompted her to come to Australia with her mother a year later.

“It completely changed my life. I didn't want to leave the country, but after that it wasn't the same, especially when I thought about what I should do if something like that happened to my children,” a- she told SBS News.

“Until the end, my mother hoped that maybe he was alive and would call us. Sometimes she said we shouldn't move to Australia. She expected it until the end of her life [that her son is alive].”

Shohreh Entesari with a photo of her brother Farshid, killed during the 1988 executions in Iran. Credit: SBS

Farshid was first sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1981 for his political activities, then executed seven years later. His family still does not know where he was buried.

“After seven years, we expected him to be released. In the summer of 1988, they began executing all political prisoners so that they would not change their beliefs. My brother was one of them,” Entesari said.

“I blame every member of this government. During my brother's execution, Raïssi was a puppet. One thing I can say is that he lacked humanity.

In search of justice

After Raïssi's death, the government declared five days of mourning in his memory and that of others killed in the accident.

Iranian state media reported that thousands of people marched in Iran. However, many, like Entesari, are not grieving.

“I am happy that Raïssi is dead because he was responsible for the murders of 1988,” she said.

“But at the same time I am sad because my mother and father were not there to witness the death of the 'Butcher of Tehran'.

“I also wanted them to see him stand trial and pay for what he did by becoming a prisoner. »

Akbari echoed a similar sentiment.

“I really hate them all. But hatred is not enough. Hatred is the beginning, and trying to change is the other step,” he said.

Key points

“They killed a lot of people emotionally”

“I remember his face”

“My brother was one of them”

In search of justice

SBS contacted the Iranian embassy for comment but did not receive a response.

Lina Portman

Related Articles

Update on conditions of three men after being stabbed three times in Woolwich

KC, Mississippi, men sentenced to life in prison for murders, drug trafficking conspiracy

1.84 million-square-foot “warehouse/industrial” project near Riverside in limbo – Press Enterprise

Man sentenced to 12 years in prison for carjacking in St. Clair Shores – Macomb Daily