NCRI – Political prisoner Gholamreza Khossravi has said he is ready to be executed in the name of freedom for Iran rather than give in to the ‘criminal, warmongering and inhumane’ mullahs that rule the regime.
In an interview, Mr Khossravi, 48, has told how he has suffered years of torture beating and abuse, and would prefer to die than deny his support for the People’s Mojahadin of Iran (PMOI/MEK).
His interview was published by the Persian language Exile Activists on September 8, 2013. Below is excerpts of the interview.
Q: Given that most of our readers are familiar with you, please give us your biography in your own words and also describe your current conditions in prison.
A: I am Gholamreza Khossravi Savadjani, son of Gholi, born on 15 July 1965 to a working-class family. I am married and have a son of 16. My I have a high school diploma and I am student of the 7th term of abstract chemistry in Payam Nour University.
I am expert in welding operations and installation of industrial equipment with 17 years experience in various industries (steel, chemical, oil and gas, wood and paper, offshore, petrochemical, copper…)
I became politically active at the time of the anti-monarchic uprising of the people of Iran in 1978 and there I became acquainted with the PMOI. After the victory of the revolution, this acquaintance developed into a continuous relationship and I started working in the student section of the PMOI. In August 1981, I was arrested because of my activities in Abadan, Nourabad Mamassani and Kazeroun.
Regarding my conditions in prison, since my arrest on 24 February 2008 and up until 16 July 2011, for a duration of 40 months, I was held incommunicado in various detention centers without any humanitarian facilities. I had two visits per year, no right to phone calls, and currently I am in ward 350 of Evin prison with other honorable, freedom-loving and steadfast prisoners enduring all the deficiencies, problems and limitations aimed at breaking the will of steadfast political prisoners (which is wishful thinking on part of the regime). We have always adhered to our oaths to resist (Oh God, bestow patience on us, steady our strides and make us victorious over infidels).
Q: Please briefly explain to our readers your charges and years in prison during the 1980s.
A: In August of 1981, I was arrested for my active support of the PMOI while I was only 16 and I was tortured and condemned to 10 years in prison. My sentence was reduced 5 years in the winter of that year and I spent four years of my imprisonment in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) prison in Kazeroon and was then sent into exile to Adel-abad prison in Shiraz for one year. That was a period of torment, torture and much hardship. I was freed in August of 1986.
After my release from prison, despite the fact that I was granted admission to universities, I was barred from attending. They preconditioned my admittance to university to my cooperation with Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS) to give them information; this, I never accepted.
Q: You were condemned in two separate decrees. The first one was on charges brought against you by the MOIS in Rafsanjan where you received a six year sentence, but then in Tehran, after protests and interference from the MOIS, you were condemned to be executed twice. What was the reason for this sensitivity about you from two separate organs and the heavy sentences that you received?
A: In my view, the MOIS and Ministry of Defense completely cooperated with each other in my case. For example, Alawi, the criminal chief interrogator for PMOI members, in interrogating my brother Mohammadreza, told him that he had increased my sentence from three years imprisonment to capital punishment.
The decree by Judge Peerabbassi demonstrates how the regime’s animosity towards us goes back to the 1980s because they once again related my present decree to the issues of that era.
The other reasons were: my disclosures in Rafsanjan’s sham trial regarding the barbaric and inhuman treatment by the MOIS, my refusal to cooperate and give information, and my refusal to give television interviews against the PMOI. This resulted in keeping me in solitary confinement in the MOIS detention center in Kerman (for 12 months), in the Defense Ministry’s anti-intelligence detention center no.64 (for 9 months), and ward 240 of Evin prison (for 20 months). In this way they showed their bitterness towards me.
Q: It is said that your death sentence is based on your confessions to crimes you have committed. What have you confessed? Do you still stand by your confessions or were you forced to confess?
A: I worked with Simay-e Azadi (opposition satellite TV network) to reveal the criminal, warmongering and anti-Iran nature of the regime and the spread of poverty, corruption and destruction by them. I sent Simay-e Azadi information and I also offered them a financial contribution. These activities of mine had been uncovered and the regime had me under surveillance. I confirm I did this. Meanwhile, since my arrest, I have suffered torture, severe beatings and verbal abuse and threats against my family by the MOIS. Ultimately, for those activities I was condemned to three years in prison plus a three years suspended term. However, the vengeance of the MOIS meant my sentence was changed to six years in prison and then to capital punishment.
Moreover, in 2009, Judge Peerabbassi first issued a decree for my freedom; however, with that same criminal and suppressive objective, he changed his decree to execution and not once but twice. According to Peerabbassi’s own confession and the case itself, this was based on an MOIS report. Regarding those charges, in these twenty and some years, I was never asked a single question. Peerabbassi also did not ask me any questions.
Q: Given the charges against you regarding you financial contributions to PMOI (MEK), do you have any links to this organization?
A: I was and am a supporter of the proud PMOI organization, but I never had any organizational connection to them. My short period of activities was related to the Simay-e Azadi TV network, which is a real and legal entity. Nevertheless, I have no fear in declaring my support for the PMOI and accept that for this support and due to regime’s inhuman animosity toward the organization and its supporters, I be sent to the gallows. I accept that I come a flag of honor for my desire for freedom for the heroic people of Iran, and let our martyrdom tarnish the image of this inhuman regime and cause its swift downfall.
Q: It is said that due to pressure from the MOIS your case is stalled. But on the other hand, your lawyer Abdolfattah Soltani is currently in prison. Is any lawyer currently following up your case?
A: Given that Ms Shima Ghoshe was also my lawyer, it seems that she is following up my case to some extent, but I am now aware that she is also under pressure from the regime.
Q: What about the court that issued your death sentence? Was your lawyer present at the trial and was he given a chance and adequate time to defend you? Was there a jury?
A: This bloodthirsty regime did not allow me to speak with my lawyers for even one minute prior to my trial. The intelligence and security agents and the man in charge of the judicial office barred me from speaking to my lawyers. There was a lawyer but there was no jury. In any case, the decrees are handed over to the judges in advance.
Q: Given promises by Mr Rouhani prior to the elections regarding the review of files and promises to free prisoners of conscience, do you believe the new government will review your case?
A: In my view, if Hassan Rouhani has made any promises, they were simply deceptive acts of propaganda to delude the public and the world community, and to diminish internal and external pressures and prevent further international condemnations and sanctions. Moreover, in the view of the regime, prisoners of conscience are considered only those that belong to one faction of the regime, or who themselves are criminals from decades ago. Time and again they have expressed in interrogations that they are sorry that the conditions are not that of the past or they would not have let us live for one minute.
Even if there is any change, it is due to pressure on this regime and the turbulent conditions regarding their demise and it is solely to save themselves.
I accept the death decree wholeheartedly and I am proud of it. I am not at all looking to see what Hassan Rouhani does or does not or what motto he has or has not. We are prepared to sacrifice and pay the price whatever it may be. Who is Hassan Rouhani? We look far beyond him.
I chose to be ready to sacrifice my life in the hope of attaining freedom.
Q: If you have any messages for our readers, please go ahead.
A: I am asking those who are listening to me to be resolute in their will to overthrow this criminal and anti-human regime and to direct all their endeavors to the overthrow of this regime together with all its cohorts and to establish a popular, free, democratic state that supports equality and justice for each and every member of this nation.
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