Full Name:
Seyyed Zia MirEmadi
Biography:
No information is available about his birth and education
Positions:
- Revolutionary Court Prosecutor of Hormozgan since 1981
- Revolutionary Court Prosecutor of Bandar Abbas and Revolutionary Court Prosecutor of Shiraz since 11 November 1982
- Public Court Prosecutor of Shiraz since 6 April 1983
- Revolutionary Court Prosecutor of Tehran between 1983 and 1989
- Editor-in-Chief of Emad Journal between 1992 and 1993
- Presently a member of the Bar Association of Tehran
Human Rights Violations:
During his tenures in high-ranking judicial offices, Seyyed Zia MirEmadi has been responsible for numerous severe human rights violations; including religious persecution, the arbitrary arrests and mass executions of political dissidents, and the sexual torture of women and girls in prison by prison officials. He was imprisoned for less than a year on financial fraud charges.
- The Religious Persecution of Baha’is
Seyyed Zia MirEmadi became responsible for the incitement ofhatred against, arbitrary arrest, and torture of Baha’i people on charges of affiliation with Israel , as the Revolutionary Court Prosecutor of Shiraz. Shortly after his appointment, people of the Baha’i faith were arrested in dozens, and severely tortured to leave their faith and convert to Islam[B1] .[1] During an interview with Khabar-e Jonoub newspaper on 20 November 1982, MirEmadi stated, ‘Those Baha’is who are being arrested are organized and affiliated with international Zionism.’ He also claimed that some of those detained had already confessed about their ties to Zionism and their activities against the Islamic Republic.[2]
On 12 June 1983, MirEmadi visited Baha’i prisoners with a group of guards. He told the prison’s Chief to begin the final repentance process. Considering them ‘National Apostates’ according to Sharia law, he gave the prisoners nine days to repent, or otherwise be executed. None repented.[3] Subsequently , on June 16 and 18, 22 incarcerated Baha’i individuals were executed in Shiraz. Among them were ten women, including 17-year-old Mona Mahmoudnejhad.
- The Brutal Suppression of Dissent
As the Revolutionary Court Prosecutor of Hormozgan, Seyyed Zia MirEmadi has been responsible the execution and suppression of the Islamic Republic’s political opponents by executing and implementing death sentences and lengthy prison terms. MirEmadi boasted to Khabar-e Jonoub newspaper on 20 November 1982:
‘I’ve been appointed as the Revolutionary Court Prosecutor of Hormozgan for over a year now. When they gave me this responsibility, the [opposition] groups in Bandar Abbas and surrounding cities that share its jurisdiction were very active. These groups consisted of Ashraf Dehghani’s group and munafeqin. Peykar was also planning activities. After I started my work at the Revolutionary Court, with the help of the IRGC and intelligence agents, the whole network of Mujahedin-e Khalgh supporters in Bandar Abbas was exposed and their members were arrested , all within ten days… thanks to the agility of our brothers’.
He described his personal role in convicting the dissidents to long-term prison sentences and execution: ‘We tried all those arrested. Some were executed, and others were sentenced to life in prison.’[4]
Seyyed Zia MirEmadi continued to play a role in executing political dissidents as Shiraz’s Public Prosecutor and Revolutionary Court Prosecutor. He implemented and executed death sentences and supervised the prison administration, in accordance with article 32 of the Procedural Code of the Revolutionary Prosecution Offices and Courts, ratified on 17 June 1979 by the Revolutionary Council.
- The Rape of Women in Prisons
While he was Shiraz’s Public and Revolutionary Court Prosecutor, MirEmadi became complicit in the rape and execution of female political prisoners, not only by prosecuting them but by supervising the implementation of their death sentences.
In 1983, Elaheh Daknama and ten other young women[5] who were all serving prison terms since 1981, on charges of supporting Mujahedin-e Khalgh, were executed in Shiraz. Elaheh was a high school student at the time of her arrest. An informed source[6] has testified that Elaheh had written on her clothes before her execution that she had been raped.
The news of officials raping unmarried women before executing them, including the news of Elaheh Daknama, became widely known among members of the public in Shiraz, after MirEmadi denied the stories in an interview with Khabar-e Jonoub newspaper. Denouncing them as mere ‘rumours’, he told the paper, ‘there are rumours that before the execution, they wed girls to boys, and only then do they execute the girls… There is no truth to these rumours.’[7]
According to article 32 of the Procedural Code of the Revolutionary Prosecution Offices and Courts, the carrying out of execution verdicts is done with the permission of the country’s Prosecutor-General and under the supervision of the Revolutionary Prosecutor of the City. Therefore, MirEmadi played a direct role in the way Elaheh Daknama was executed and the events preceding her execution.
- Crushing Women’s Rights and Citizens’ Freedoms
Since domestic laws indicate that the Public Prosecutor is responsible for dealing with charges related to ‘hijab’, ‘consumption of alcohol’, ‘consensual sexual relations’, etc., Seyyed Zia MirEmadi has been responsible for convicting citizens, especially women, whose behaviours did not conform to the Islamic norms.
The numerous varieties of unfair convictions during MirEmadi’s time as prosecutor is unknown. Yet, he explained in an interview in 1984 with Ettela’at newspaper[8], that fighting the monkarat (wicked deeds in Islam) was among his exclusive responsibilities. There, he states that he has negotiated with the Interior Minister and Director of the Islamic Revolutionary Committees to increase the number of forces fighting the monkarat.
- Corruption Charges and Current Position
Seyyed Zia MirEmadi was arrested in June 2002 on financial corruption charges. Abdonabi Namazi, the General Prosecutor at that time, described his charges as ‘heavier than those of Shahram Jazayeri’ to journalists. MirEmadi was released on bail in August 2003, by the Special Clerical Court. Despite his complicity in human rights crimes, he became a member of the Bar Association in Tehran during the 2010s and has been serving as a lawyer, to date.
[1] Iran Human Rights Documentation Center report. (2009). Community under siege: the ordeal of the Baha’is of Shiraz. Retrieved from https://www.scribd.com/document/17774491/Community-Under-Siege-The-Ordeal-of-the-Baha-is-of-Shiraz.
[2] Interview with Hojjatoleslam MirEmadi, Revolutionary Prosecutor of Shiraz (20 November 1982), Khabar-e Jonoub newspaper, page 5.
[3] See supra, note 1.
[4] Interview with Hojjatoleslam MirEmadi, Revolutionary Prosecutor of Shiraz (20 November 1982), Khabar-e Jonoub newspaper, page 5.
[5] According to the Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation, the names of some of these women are: Mahboubeh Golberenji, Fatemeh Afrasiabi, (First name unknown) Panahmand, Roya Hajiani-Ghotbabadi, Masoumeh Hasanzadeh, Maryam Zakeri, Mah Parvin Rabiei, Zahra Ramani, Nastaran Hedayati
[6] The identity of the witness is protected by Justice for Iran.
[7] ‘The rumours about health-hazardous condition in prison and the state of prisoners, executing 300 prisoners, and wedding girls before their execution to boys are absolute lies; interview with Hojjatoleslam MirEmadi, Revolutionary and Public Prosecutor of Shiraz’, issue: 889 (19 Mordad 1362), Khabar-e Jonoub newspaper, page 7.
[8] Interview with Public Prosecutor of Tehran, issue: 17502 (27 Dey 1363), Ettela’at Newspaper, page 3.
