Iran International
Iranian security forces have still not returned the body of 18-year-old protester Amirhossein Hatami to his family, four days after his execution, in what informed sources described as further pressure on relatives already reeling from his death.
Information obtained by Iran International shows that Hatami, who was executed on April 2, remains unburied as authorities continue to withhold his body.
Hatami was one of the defendants in a case linked to a fire at the Mahmoud Kaveh Basij base on Namjoo Street in eastern Tehran during the January protests.
Others in the same case included Mohammadamin Biglari, Shahin Vahedparast Kalur, Abolfazl Salehi Siavashani and Ali Fahim, all of whom were sentenced to death.
Biglari and Vahedparast were executed on April 5, while Fahim’s execution was carried out on Monday, April 6.
Informed sources told Iran International that Hatami’s body has not been released because his name appeared on a website linked to the Mojahedin-e Khalgh organization, an allegation his family strongly rejects.
Sources familiar with the case said Hatami was an industrial design student at the University of Tehran and was fluent in three languages.
A source with knowledge of the events of January 8 said the case involved seven defendants, none of whom had any role in starting the fire.
According to the source, Hatami and the others entered the Basij base with around 50 other people only after the fire had already broken out.
Minutes later, another fire began. Many managed to escape, but seven people, including Hatami, were unable to flee.
They went to the rooftop, where they were detained by Basij forces and severely beaten, the source said.
Judicial authorities later accused the defendants of trying to gain access to the armory.
After their arrest, the detainees were subjected to severe interrogations and then transferred to Ghezel Hesar prison.
They were denied in-person visits throughout their detention and were allowed only phone calls.
Their trial was presided over by Judge Abolghasem Salavati, and they were denied access to lawyers of their own choosing.
Death sentences were issued on February 7.
Sources told Iran International that the confessions in the case were extracted under pressure and coercion, and that the judicial process ended in executions carried out without the defendants and their families having full knowledge of the proceedings.
In the same case, 28-year-old Shahin Vahedparast was also executed on April 5, and his body, too, has still not been returned to his family, according to informed sources.
Those sources said Vahedparast’s wife was four months pregnant at the time of his execution.
Relatives said he had dreamed of opening a restaurant with her.
