A Teen on Trial for Killing a Basiji

HRANA News Agency – Two years ago, at the age of seventeen, Ali Nasiri was arrested and charged with vehicular homicide resulting in the death of a basiji. During this time, Ali Nasiri has been locked up in Rajai-Shahr Prison in a state of limbo. It is believed that the case against him has been fabricated by the security and judiciary officials.

Born in 1992, Ali Nasiri was only seventeen years old when he was arrested on June 14, 2009 during the protests following the presidential elections in Iran. Together with his friends, Ali Nasiri was stopped while driving his car on Paknejad Blvd. in Saadat Abad and was immediately transferred to the Shahpur Detention Center. Although he was released on bail after eight days, his vehicle remained impounded by the Shahpur Intelligence Agency.

According to a report by Human Rights Activists for Democracy in Iran, on the same night after Ali Nasiri had been locked up for several hours at the Shahpur Detention Center, a few members of Iran’s Basiji Militia were run over by an unknown motorist while they were stopping vehicles on Kakh Square. As a result of this hit and run incident, a Basiji named Hussein Qollam Kabiri was killed.

After a few days following his release, Ali Nasiri received a letter informing him that in order to pick up his vehicle, he had to go to the Intelligence Agency on July 31, 2009. When he showed up at the agency on the designated date, Ali Nasiri was arrested again and subsequently first transferred to the Juvenile Center and then to Rajai-Shahr Prison.

After spending two years in prison in a state of limbo and uncertainty, Ali Nasiri was finally put on trial this month on charges of not having a driving license and also participating in the murder of Hussein Qollam Kabiri. Although there is an obvious time discrepancy between when the accused was detained while driving and when the hit and run occurred, during the trial, Judge Aziz Mohammadi insisted on finding Ali Nasiri responsible for the charges.