“I’m Not a Fake Postman and I Have not Raped Anybody. I’ve Been Framed”

According to a close source, public execution of Iman Hosseini Moqaddam, who is called “the fake wicked postman”, was published on the internet and the newspapers in Iran last week.

Moreover, the defendant’s family and friends gathered in front of the courthouse today to ask the authorities to process his case with justice.

Iman Hosseini Moqaddam, who has been under arrest since 2013, says that during his interrogation in Shapur police station which took about 70 days, he was tortured and the judicial procedure at the Revolutionary Court was unfair and non-transparent.

A video has been published in which Judge Moqiseh confirms the prisoner’s death sentence. In this video he says, “by punishing corrupt people, we hope to keep our people safe and rid the society of insecurity.”

Nonetheless, many scholars and experts reject the deterrent effect of the death penalty.

The prisoner told our reporter, “I am Seyyed Iman Hosseini Moqaddam. I’m 35 years old and I never had a criminal record. I worked in real estate and I traded vehicles. I married a second time in 2012 because of family issues. In 2013, I met my ex-wife in Eram Amusement Park so that my children could play there.  We were sitting in the park when a man came by and said, “I know you. You broke into my house, stole my stuff and tried to rape my wife.” I was so mad; I called the police and we went to the police station. I was released on bail of 10 million Tomans that night. After a while, I was arrested at my mother’s place and transferred to Shapur police station and then the tortures began. The day I went to Shapur police station, I was 123 kilograms (271 lb.) but when I was sent to jail, I was only 78 kilograms (171 lb). I was told that I had raped 50 women. During the identification, I was the only prisoner who wore shackles and the plaintiffs were told to identify the one in shackles. I didn’t know any of the plaintiffs and had never seen them before. My case was sent to the investigating judge, Mr. Mollatabar, in the Prosecution Office in such an unfair condition. The asked me, “Did you do it?” I said, “No, I didn’t.” Mr. Mollatabar said, “Next time you come here, you say that you have done it.” When I returned to the police station, I was tortured so harshly that I fainted and fell down from the chair several times and was delirious during the interrogation at the police station when I was being filmed. The medic can tell if he sees the film. After the tortures, I was sent to prison and then to the Revolutionary Court. One of my neighbors, who knew me well, agreed to become my lawyer, but Judge Salavati didn’t let him handle my case. They wouldn’t even send him any notices, didn’t ask him to the court and wouldn’t listen to his defenses.

The first day I went to the court, Judge Salavati told his colleague, “Assume this bastard has raped our wives while we were at work.” I said, “If you truly knew Imam Ali, you wouldn’t judge me like that because you aren’t impartial.” He sentenced me to public execution. Based on article 286 of the Islamic Penal Code, the publicity of the offence has disturbed the internal order of the country. My case was sent to the Supreme Court. My lawyer wrote a brief in my defense, and the Supreme Court objected my case several times and sent it back to the Revolutionary Court. One of the problems with the case, which was ignored by the judges frequently, was that some of the plaintiffs said that the rapist’s height was 170 cm, some other said he was 190 cm, someone said he was 22 years old, and someone else said that he was 40. It is obvious that this case has had several suspects, and due to the inefficiency of the police station, they blamed everything on me. I’m dishonored. People believe what they read in the newspaper. Not everyone knows how wrong this accusation is. We presented 147 evidences proving my innocence, but none of them was considered. The last time the Supreme Court objected my case, it was taken away from Judge Salavati and given to Judge Moqiseh. Judge Moqiseh also treated me badly and had already issued a ruling. When I defended myself, he mocked me. I presented evidence that I was in Sowme’eh Sara at the time that one of the plaintiffs claimed I was in Tehran, but he didn’t accept it. They included 40 plaintiffs in my case but only 16 of them were present at the court and some of them mentioned theft and some mentioned rape. It is obvious that there have been several suspects in this case.”

You can see the video footage of the gathering of the defendant’s family and friends here.