Qazvin

This page keeps the memory of 197 people whose names are linked in our list with Qazvin; from 18 Mehr 1389 to 17 Mordad 1405. 136 of them were executed and 56 were killed in protests. One person was killed by government forces outside the protests. The death sentences of 2 people have been upheld and 2 people have been sentenced to death. 163 people are recorded in the province of Qazvin, 32 in the province of Zanjan and one in Alborz.

Years and days

The year 1404, with 88 names, is the heaviest year of this page, and the days 18 Dey 1404 with 14 killed and 19 Dey 1404 with 8 killed are its bitterest days. Before that, the year 1390 stands out with 19 names; on 27 Shahrivar 1390 seven people and on 21 Aban 1390 three people were executed on a single day. The years 1400 with 14 names, 1401 with 12 names, 1402 with 9 names and 1403 with 8 names also have a notable share, and on 21 Azar 1401 four people gave their lives on a single day.

The ages range from 7 to 60 years, and the median is 35 years. 6 of these 197 people were under 18, and the sources have written of 23 people that they were women.

Nazanin, Reyhaneh and Mohammadhossein

Nazanin Esmikhani, 17 years old, “was a final-year high school student, studied photography, worked in a photo studio, played the guitar and the setar, and was attached to joy and life.” On the night of the nineteenth of Dey she was on her way home in Mohammadieh with her father and mother when a sniper shot her from behind; according to those close to her, “Nazanin fell into her father's arms.” For her body, 300 million tomans and her own gold jewellery were taken from the family.

Reyhaneh Ghodsi, 23 years old, was shot from behind in the chest the same night, at around 21h. Her sister wrote: “Who can understand what pain the place of the bullet you took [has] in my chest.” Mohammadhossein Sarikhani, 17 years old, was wounded by two bullets in Daneshgah Street and left in the street; according to the source, “Mohammadhossein was killed on the first day of his 18th birthday.”

Abolfazl Soleymani Alamouti, 27 years old, was killed on 19 Dey 1404 in Zibashahr; he was to be married in those very days. The source writes that his fiancée, Aida Heydari, took her own life about eight months later. Ghasem Vakili, 40 years old, an off-road champion and “father of a young daughter,” was also killed by a bullet to the head.

Executed women

Behnaz Forouzandehdel, 32 years old, a housewife and mother of a 12-year-old daughter, “always had a smile on her lips and helped the other prisoners.” According to the source, to help clear her brother she accepted all the charges, and she was executed on 18 Mehr 1389 in Zanjan Central Prison. Shamsi Pirastavan was executed on 9 Khordad 1400 in Choobindar Prison in Qazvin; the source writes that she “is the first woman to be executed in Iran on drug-related charges after the amendment of the anti-narcotics law.” Sousan Rezaeipour, 31 years old, who according to the source had been forced to marry her maternal cousin, was executed on 5 Aban 1400. Hadigheh Abadi and Younes Mazarshams, both 46 years old, a wife and husband from Afghanistan who were caretakers in Taleghan, were executed together on 20 Shahrivar 1404; their three children were returned to Afghanistan. The charges are what the authorities stated, not a verdict of guilt.

Sources and incompleteness

197 names are not all of those from Qazvin who lost their lives; the real number is higher, and we include only names that have a source. The main sources are the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center with 74 cases, the Iran Human Rights Society with 55, HRANA with 46 and 31, Iran International with 41, iranhrs.org with 19, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network with 12, iranintl.com with 8 and Persian Wikipedia with 7 cases; 6 names also appear in the list of the Office of the Presidency dated 12 Bahman 1404. If you knew one of these 197 people, send us your memory or correction.