ژورنال سایت خبری سیاسی ژورنال
English Journal is published on Fridays
PDF-English Journal-15 November 2025-No38
Some time ago, through friends, we got in touch with the sister of political prisoner Saman Mohammadi Khiyareh. After thirteen years in prison, Saman was executed on 3 October 2024 in Ghezel Hesar prison. His sister, her voice choked with tears, spoke of the injustice inflicted on her brother and their family, and asked us not to let their cry for justice be silenced.
She told us that her brother had been executed in secret, without any chance for a final farewell. Over thirteen years in prison, he was taken to the gallows twice. She said:
“Each time he called to say goodbye, we died with him and then came back to life.”
After the second time, the family was told that the sentence had been overturned and that Saman would soon be released. For years they travelled back and forth between Sanandaj and Tehran with that hope. But suddenly, without warning, he was taken to solitary confinement – and the next day they heard of his execution from the media.
His sister says:
“We arrived in Tehran at midnight. They took us to Behesht-e Zahra cemetery and said they were doing us a favour by allowing us five minutes to see his body. It took twenty days before we even found out where he was buried. We went there at night and saw that they had sealed his grave with concrete. We couldn’t even lay his headstone ourselves.”
Saman was the only son in the family; the support of his parents and sisters. He was also both father and husband. His fifteen-year-old son had seen him for years only from behind glass and bars – and in the last five years even these brief visits were denied. All of them were waiting for his release.
The Islamic Republic did not only take Saman from them; it stole the hope and peace of an entire family. They lied repeatedly to Saman and his loved ones, tormented them, and finally, by executing him, plunged a family into mourning. The mother, in grief for her beloved child, cries out for the destruction of those who stole her darling from her.
Today, the voice of this justice-seeking sister is the voice of all the mothers, fathers and families who are searching for justice. Their voices must not be silenced. Every bereaved and justice-seeking family must speak, so that the truth is not buried and the cycle of executions and oppression is not repeated in silence. Let us be the voice of these families – so that no more Samans are lost. Let us raise their voices until the perpetrators and architects of these crimes are finally brought to trial.
Editor: Patty Debonitas
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