Tell Me What Ali Said In His Last Moments

The wife of Ali Hassanpour, who was hit with a bullet during the peaceful popular march on June 15, called on the United Nations to investigate the martyrdom of her husband and other green martyrs in an interview with Rooz.  She also asked witnesses who saw her husband being shot to contact her and tell her and her two children what Ali Hassanpour said in his last moments.  

Ali Hassanpour was killed on Azadi avenue from a bullet wound to his head.  His corpse was delivered to his family for burial 104 days later.  

The photograph of Ali Hassanpour’s bloody body was among the first photographs of martyrs released and became a symbol of popular protests.  

Speaking to Rooz, Ladan Mostafaei, Ali Hassanpour’s wife, said that she has filed a complaint against those who ordered and perpetrated her husband’s murder.  She told Rooz that she has been asked to receive compensation but she and her family are not seeking compensation and will pursue their complaint through the United Nations and international organizations if domestic institutions remain unresponsive.

You can read Rooz’s interview with Ladan Mostafaei, Ali Hassanpour’s wife, below.

Rooz: Mrs. Mostafaei, you said you have filed a complaint in the case of your husband’s death.  Can you tell us about that?

Ladan Mostafaei (Mostafaei): Yes, we filed a complaint to find and punish my husband’s murderers.  The case is at Tehran’s criminal court and we continue to follow up but they don’t give us any answers.  We won’t step aside.  We want to know for what crime they killed Ali.  How can they fire bullets at him on the street and for no one to be responsible?  Who killed him and who ordered the killing? They must say what the crime of my husband and other people was to allow the government to kill them in broad daylight.  

Rooz: How were you informed of your husband’s death?

Mostafaei: My husband was among the 3-4 million people who marched on June 25 to protest and take back their vote.  He was shot on that day in the head.  We still don’t know if he died that day or a few days later.  We had no news since 2 pm that day when Ali last contacted me until two days later, Wednesday June 27, when a friend printed a picture of his bloody body from the Internet and we realized that he had been shot.  We didn’t know that he was dead and started to investigate.  For 104 days we searched every hospital, police station, coroner’s office, ever place, even the Majlis, with the picture in hand, but there was no sign of my husband and no one claimed to know anything … No one can understand what we went through.  I ask God not to subject even an enemy to a moment of what we experienced during those 104 days. The photographs set us on fire but we couldn’t put them aside for a second.  Day and night we looked at the telephone for any news.  We stayed up every night.  My younger son kept saying perhaps dad would call and we would be asleep.  On the birthday of Imam Ali, my son kept saying, “Maybe today there would be new of dad, because dad’s name is Ali too.”

Rooz: How old are you sons?  They have seen the pictures too, correct?

Mostafaei: I have two sons, aged 21 and 15.  They have seen the pictures and the clips that show Ali on the ground and people dipping their hands in his blood and raising them.  We live with these pictures and clips.  We have watched them maybe 200 thousand times so far.  The scenes have ruined us.  My older son didn’t leave the house for 5 months.  My younger son is on medication under the supervision of a psychiatrist … We look and look again and feel sorry for Ali’s innocence and at the same time are proud of him because he died for his country and without a sin.  My husband served on the frontlines of the [Iran-Iraq] war; he had fought for this country and his people; and they killed him for no reason.  My children keep asking, for what crime?  Every time they see the pictures, they ask, but what did you want?  Nobody is taking responsibility.  The will to live has been destroyed in us, but I live and will investigate it until I see the trial of those who ordered the murder and murdered my husband.