Mashallah Karami

Age: 

Activities/Rights: Father seeking justice for son

Status: Karaj Penitentiary

Judicial status: Indicted for 4 charges in 2 cases

Violations: Arbitrary arrest and detention, lack of due process, unfair trial, familial punishment, coercive pressure, prolonged solitary confinement, access to lawyer, denial of medical care, reprisal for seeking justice

Protester Mohammad Mehdi Karami was arrested after participating in the 40th day memorial service for slain protester Hadis Najafi in a cemetery in Karaj. He was one of 16 defendants tried for the death of an IRGC officer at the scene. His torture-tainted forced confessions were aired prior to any legal proceedings, he was denied access to a lawyer, due process and fair trial. Mohammad Mehdi was executed for charges of efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth) with co-defendant Seyed Mohammad Hosseini on 7 January 2023. As Mohammad Hosseini had no relations, Mohammad Mehdi’s father, Mashallah, became the voice of both, stating that he was now his son too. In reprisal for proudly talking about their son, state forces destroyed the family’s display of Mohammad Mehdi’s medals and burnt his clothes and further destroyed the greenery the family had planted around his grave. Mashallah refused to be silenced despite the harassment and threats.

Mashallah Karami was arrested on 22 August 2023. His lawyer, Amirhossein Kouhkan was also arrested when he went to follow up on his client’s case. On 3 November, it was reported that Mashallah’s wife and other son had been forced to flee their home after repeated raids by security forces. Mashallah Karami was held incommunicado in solitary confinement for three months until being transferred to Ward 15 of Karaj Penitentiary on 22 November. He has been indicted in two cases: charges of “propaganda against the system” and “assembly and collusion against national security” at Branch 2 of the Karaj Revolutionary Court and two false financial charges at Branch 2 of the Nazar Abad Criminal Court in Karaj. His trial date has been set for 23 April 2024 in the Revolutionary Court case.