Witness name and surname: Withheld
Sex: Male
The place about which he is testifying: Fardis – Karaj
Witness status: Injured, Witnessed the shooting at people
Type of testimony before the Tribunal: Withheld
People had gathered on the 5th square of Fardis since morning. They had parked their cars at 10:30 a.m., they were standing there and chanting slogans peacefully. I didn’t see any violent action. However, following the intervention of the Islamic revolutionary guard corps (IRGC) and Basij forces to disperse the crowd, some clashes erupted. When the police tried to intervene, people got angry and set fire to a gas station next to the 5th square. The police officers ran away; they were not many. I didn’t see any beating that morning. The clashes started in the afternoon following the intervention of the IRGC and Basij forces. The shooting started in the afternoon.
I went out to the street around 7p.m.. The police, IRGC and Basij forces surrounded the 5th square. The protestors gathered on the 4th square. There is a bakery between these two squares. The protestors, while chanting slogans, headed to the fifth square, and the security forces moved towards the crowd to disperse them. I was standing in the queue at the bakery counter stuck between the people and security agents when the shooting started.
A man had fallen on the ground in front of the bakery and whined, “I am dead, I am dead.” I took his hand and asked what had happened. I saw that he had received a bullet in his leg. The agents came from the other side and asked “what’s the problem, is he shot?” Two officers took his hand, picked him up and took him away. He was about 40 to 45 years old. {He was shot} near the knee, a little above it, in the thigh.
They wore dark green uniforms and black caps; I think they were Basij forces. Agents parked ambulances in the alleys. They collected the wounded and took them quickly by ambulance.
The shooting was done not only by the Basijis, but also by the IRGC forces wearing dark green uniforms. The Basijis wore Basij caps and uniforms bearing the emblem of Basij; they were equipped with tear gas canisters, shotguns and weapons. It was dangerous to approach them. They were shooting.
The police were also present, but they were few in number. In the morning, they had tried to intervene but failed and ran away. In the afternoon, IRGC and Basij forces came to their help and their number increased. The clashes intensified and the shooting started by the arrival of the Basij and IRGC forces. They {fired} at demonstrators. They used shotguns and rubber bullets. I was wounded with one of them. They used also rifles. {Those who were shooting} wore balaclavas and only their eyes {were visible}. They were all fully armed, had a backpack on their shoulders, and carried a rifle with all equipments.
{The distance between those who were firing and the protesters was} two alleys. The crowd was on the other side of the fourth square. A number of the protestors from the fourth square and a number of security forces from the fifth square had moved into the alleys. The protestors lit fires and chanted slogans, and the security forces at the end of the alley fired at them with tear gas, bullets, shotguns and rubber bullets. They hit people with batons and threw tear gas to disperse them. They beat with baton sticks whoever they saw on the sidewalk. They {hit} them on the head and back.
17 November, the next day in the afternoon, I went to the first square of Gohardasht, Karaj. I realized that all Gohardasht streets leading to the side and parallel streets were blockaded with jersey barriers, and all entrances, exits, and roundabouts were closed. I went towards the protestors. It was crowded. There is a bridge near Gohardasht square; security agents, the Basijis, IRGC forces and police officers gathered there. Some were on motorbikes and some on foot. I joined the crowd; after one quarter the situation turned messy; security forces were shooting and throwing tear gas; people were also involved; they had lit fires and were throwing stones. I was returning, but suddenly the security forces arrived at the end of the street; the protestors were running away; they came into the street after me. I thought they were the security agents, but then realized that they were standing at the end of the street. I continued on my way and thought to myself if I ran, the agents on motorbikes would chase and catch me. I hurried my steps; at that time one of them shot me from behind. I was shot in the leg; for a moment I felt like I was hit by a taser; it was a severe electric shock. I was very scared and thought if I fell down, they would take me away. I hurried into an alley. A woman opened the door and let me in. I went to their yard. My shoes and pants were soaked in blood. They told me not to leave their house for the moment, otherwise the security agents would catch me. I stayed there for about an hour; they brought me sugar water and bandages, and helped me wrap my leg to stop the bleeding. The agents were still outside. I think I stayed there for about three hours. I was hit with 19 pellets in the back of my leg from the thigh to the ankle. They were shot from a very close distance.
A man named Reza Otadi was killed there. He had a drapery shop near Shohada Square. He was 26 to 27 years old and had just gotten engaged. It was said he was shot directly in the head near the first square. I did not see him being shot; those who had seen the incident said that someone in a white Peugeot 206 had shot him in the head and left. It seems that Basij and IRGC forces were in the car.
Special forces agents were dressed in black. Some of those carrying guns covered their faces. They wore caps and balaclavas that showed only their eyes and mouth. As far as I saw, they used paintball guns and shotguns which fired pellets; they had also Kalashnikovs. I saw someone who was hit with a pellet in the eye. A woman was shot in the arm. They brutally beat ordinary passers-by with batons, and unarmed people defended themselves by throwing stones and wood sticks. Security agents were armed and fully equipped. They had brought a bus; some soldiers were in the bus and some others were standing out. The officers were armed to the teeth, carrying all kinds of weapons.
Our friends told us that many people were {shot} that night; I was one of them; the day I was shot, though I was bleeding profusely and my blood pressure dropped, I did not dare go to the hospital. In all hospitals there is a security service. As soon as someone gets there and a doctor or nurse realizes that he is shot, he will be handcuffed; especially during protests, no one dares go to the clinic.
A friend works in the education department, and due to her job, she has some information. In Malard, eleven students, from a boy’s high school with about 400 students, were killed. The education department had sent a letter to this high school and asked teachers not to call the name of killed students during the roll call so that the classmates would not notice their absence.
