Mahmoud Reisi Najafi; 'He had no life left when he got home'

The victims of 88 recount the stories of those who lost their lives during protests against the results of an election. The story of individuals whose lives ended after the tenth presidential election in Iran in June 2009. The tale of citizens who were killed by direct gunfire during protest marches, beaten in the streets or in prison, inhaled tear gas, had police vehicles run over their bodies, were thrown from pedestrian bridges, and faced other violent methods. With the death of each person, the lives of one or several families fell into insecurity and crisis. On the evening of June 25, 2009, a vehicle carrying these lifeless and half-dead passengers navigates through the chaos towards an unknown destination. The bodies piled on top of each other are occasionally shifted by the movements of the vehicle. Among the lifeless and half-conscious bodies, suddenly someone who seems to have just regained consciousness begins to make noise. He is a middle-aged man with a bloody face and swollen eyes. He pleads not to be taken away, raising his hands in a sign of help. One of the officers notices the movements of the half-conscious body that keeps twisting and muttering something. The man's pleas work. The officer shifts and then throws the injured man out of the vehicle. September arrives, and several months have passed since the bloody events of June following the election. The election, which just a day before its occurrence, on the evening of Thursday, June 21, 2009, saw the mobile SMS service in Iran cut off, and this disruption continued in many parts of Iran, including Tehran, until mid-July. Although the Minister of Interior stated that the gradual announcement of results would begin after the morning prayer, the head of the election headquarters began announcing results shortly after midnight, ultimately introducing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the president who received 63% of the votes. After this announcement, a group of people in Iran took to the streets on June 23, believing that 'their votes had been lost,' and protested against the government. Mousavi, Karroubi, and Mohsen Rezai, three other presidential candidates, officially complained to the Guardian Council and called for the annulment of the election, but Ayatollah Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, congratulated Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the winner before the Guardian Council announced its final opinion. The voices of the protesting people are heard from the streets of the city. Shots are fired at some of these protesters, and others scream under the batons of plainclothes agents. Reports have come in that a large number of these protesters have been killed, but who has accurate statistics on the number of injured and dead from the post-election protests? No institution accepts responsibility. Eventually, a committee is formed by Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi under the title of the Committee for Following Up on the Status of Victims after the Election. On Thursday, September 12, 2009, the Kalemeh website close to Mir Hossein Mousavi published new statistics on the dead, citing Alireza Hosseini Beheshti, a member of the committee for following up on the affairs of prisoners and the deceased from the events after the election, and simultaneously, the Saham News website, close to Mehdi Karroubi, announced that Mahmoud Reisi Najafi was one of those who lost his life during the attack by agents on protesters in the June 25 march. The vehicle carrying lifeless and half-dead passengers continues towards an unknown destination, but the middle-aged injured man who was thrown out of this vehicle is now in the Hekimieh area of Tehran, waiting in the dark for passersby to walk by. His name is Mahmoud Reisi Najafi. He is the same worker whose name was introduced by Saham News as one of the victims of the events after the election. His wife and other family members, upon hearing the doorbell on the night of June 25, are confronted with his bloody face and bruised body, struggling to stand on his feet. He explains to his family what happened to him: 'When I got home, I had no life left, he said near Azadi Square, a group of armed people with batons were chasing after people, and they caught me and beat me with batons, fists, and kicks... He said when I lost consciousness, but when I came to, I found myself in a vehicle where I guess the others were either still unconscious like me or dead. But I begged so much that they let me out, he said he told the officers that he was coming home from work... One of those officers, seeing that I was begging so much, took pity on me, stopped the vehicle, and then got out himself, pulled me, and threw me out.' Fear has gripped all members of the household. They do not know what to do. They want to take their injured family member to the hospital, but they do not hear good news from outside. The television constantly refers to the protesters as rioters, and on the other hand, the leadership of the Islamic Republic also warns the protesters. Day by day, the condition of this injured worker worsens. Twelve days have passed, and no one can do anything to improve the swelling of his legs and abdomen. Eventually, Mahmoud Reisi Najafi's family decides to take him to the hospital, but according to them, the hospital they visited refuses to admit Mahmoud Reisi Najafi due to lack of space and tells them to bring the patient back the next day for admission. The next day arrives, but the resistance of this injured worker comes to an end. Mahmoud Reisi Najafi passes away in his personal home. Emergency officials transfer his body to the forensic medicine in Kahrizak, and finally, the day of the funeral arrives. Security agency personnel obtain a commitment from Mr. Reisi's father to hold the funeral quietly without any noise. September arrives, and the family's patience runs out. They reach out to the Committee for Following Up on the Status of Victims after the Election and meet with Mehdi Karroubi, one of the candidates protesting the election results. Saham News, the website close to Mehdi Karroubi, publishes the outcome of this meeting and the conversation between the family of this worker and Mehdi Karroubi. Mahmoud Reisi Najafi's father states that his family has decided to announce their son's name to prevent 'the blood of their son from being trampled.' Mehdi Karroubi promises the Reisi Najafi family that he will do everything he can to support them. Five years have passed since the 2009 election and the killing of Mahmoud Reisi Najafi. Mehdi Karroubi is under house arrest, the Committee for Following Up on the Status of Victims after the Election has been sealed, and the main members of this committee have been imprisoned. Mohammad Davari, a journalist who was preparing a film and report on the status of the victims visiting Mehdi Karroubi, is also still in Evin prison for the crime of acting against national security. There is no news of Mahmoud Reisi Najafi's family in the media.