“Our silence did not protect him”: daughter advocates father in the death cell in Iran

Rezgar beigzadeh Babamiri, who was sentenced to death by the Iranian authorities because he had tried to help wounded demonstrators in October 2022

Originally written for the Guardian:

The Franco-German cyclist, who has been detained in Iran since June

Many of the wounded were too afraid to seek hospital care after reports from secret police officers who patroyed stations, interviewed patients and imprisoned injured demonstrators. Babamiri, a 47-year-old fruit and vegetable builder, did not see himself as a revolutionary, but simply as someone who did the right thing, says his daughter Zhino.

“There were intensive shot of the forces and many demonstrators were injured. Everyone helped each other and he volunteered,” she says. “I told him that he shouldn't talk openly about it on the phone, but he said it was not dangerous to help injured people. He just couldn't see how young people bleed on the streets.”

Babamiri was arrested in April 2023 and interviewed by the Ministry of Secret Service in Bukan. According to Zhino, 24, initially believed that it was a short survey. “I was told [by relatives] Don't worry and that he would be home soon, ”she says.

Instead, Babamiri disappeared into solitary confinement and was initially refused access to a lawyer or contact with his family, according to the Kurdish human rights network.

Last week, the family heard from a lawyer that Babamiri had been sentenced to death with four other Kurdish men after being charged for “armed uprising”, “leadership and foundation of an armed group” and “espionage for Israel”.

Zhino, who lives in exile in Norway, says that the family was horrified by the judgment. “When I heard about the death sentence, I was deaf. When I called my grandmother and my aunt, they cried loudly. I have never heard of it.”

Since his arrest, Zhino has said that several people have fulfilled stories about how their father saved their lives.

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