Lifting the Ban on the Farouhars' Memorial Ceremony After 12 Years

Nineteen years after the stabbing deaths of Dariush and Parvaneh Farouhar in their home on Hedayat Street, a memorial ceremony for these two victims of what is referred to as the chain murders was held with two hours of silence. Parastoo Farouhar, who had been banned from holding memorial ceremonies for the past 12 years, was allowed this year to commemorate them at the site of their murder. According to Parastoo Farouhar, in previous years, security agents had blocked access to the ceremony hours before it began. Moments before the silence began, she stated, 'We are really insisting on this two hours of silence to perhaps break the ban on this ceremony. There will be no speeches or talks. I think everyone who comes knows what thoughts are in everyone's minds. Sometimes there is no need to speak. Silence is also a form of protest, and we are silent this year in hopes of breaking the ban on this ceremony.' Attendees on Wednesday, December 1, included over 100 political figures, friends, and supporters of the Farouhars, as well as ordinary citizens. However, as mentioned on social media, a group of Parastoo Farouhar's friends and supporters worldwide expressed solidarity with her by sharing the hashtag #Two_Hours_of_Silence. Mansoureh Shojaei, a human rights activist residing in the Netherlands, commented on the support for Parastoo Farouhar from abroad, stating, 'The factors that lead to this movement go back to the history of civil struggles in Iran. None of Parastoo's friends or supporters of human rights and civil struggles will forget the bitter memory of the chain murders, especially the murder of the Farouhars. This is part of our history. In fact, responding to Parastoo Farouhar's civilized invitation for two hours of silence is a historical duty for every Iranian. We must preserve and pass on our history and show our solidarity with the families of the victims of the chain murders and our respect for our country's history, a significant part of which was created by Iranian nationalists. The fact that Parastoo single-handedly carries the banner of the justice-seeking movement on her strong shoulders every year, going to and returning from Iran, is a support for all of this.' Parvaneh and Dariush Farouhar, Iranian nationalist activists, were murdered in 1998 at their home with multiple knife wounds. The case of their murder, alongside that of Mohammad Mokhtari and Mohammad Jafar Pouyandeh, became known as the chain murders and was addressed in a military court in Tehran two years later. The trial followed the resignation of the then-Minister of Intelligence, Dari Najafabadi, in February 1999, and the military court prosecutor arrested several high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Intelligence, including Saeed Emami, the minister's advisor and former deputy of security, Mostafa Kazemi, the deputy of security at the time of the murders, and Akbar Khushkush, the head of the Ministry's special forces. With Saeed Emami's death during detention, the handling of the case changed, and according to the lawyers, evidence related to his involvement in the murders was removed from the case. These developments led the heirs of the victims and the lawyers to refuse to attend the trial, and after a death sentence was issued for one of the defendants, they renounced their right to retribution, resulting in the defendant being sentenced to ten years in prison and the case being closed. However, 19 years after the murder of her parents, Parastoo Farouhar has been charged with propaganda against national security and insulting sacred beliefs, and her case has been referred to Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court. She stated, 'Last year, when I came to Iran to hold the eighteenth anniversary of my parents' murder, I was summoned to the prosecutor's office in Evin. There, the investigating judge was present, and my plaintiff was the Ministry of Intelligence, with two charges of insulting sacred beliefs and propaganda against the regime! The examples they provided were not valid for any of these charges. Both my lawyer and I provided explanations several times, and then we wrote a petition, answering all the questions that had been raised, hoping that a baseless case would be closed. Unfortunately, after a while, I learned that the case had been sent to the Revolutionary Court, Branch 28, with the same two charges, and a trial date was set for December 4.' Parastoo Farouhar also appeared in court as a plaintiff. Two years ago, the home of Parvaneh and Dariush Farouhar was robbed, an incident that Nasrin Sotoudeh stated had evidence of the Ministry of Intelligence's involvement: 'Unfortunately, the case did not follow the procedure requested by the lawyers. A person appeared in court and took responsibility for the robbery, while there were correspondences in the case indicating the involvement of intelligence forces. However, the court did not pay attention to the request for further investigations into this case made by the lawyers, including myself.' The 'Two Hours of Silence' ceremony was held on Wednesday, December 1, from 4 to 6 PM at 18 Hedayat Street.