According to the same sources, the relatives of the two prisoners, including brother and son of Ali Chabishat, were informed of the executions on June 12, 2014, but they were not told when they took place. Intelligence Ministry officials in Ahvaz have only shown Chabishat’s grave to his family. The authorities have banned relatives from holding mourning ceremonies.
Chabishat and Mousavi were arrested on November 11, 2012 on charges of blowing up a gas pipeline in Ahvaz. However, news reports said the explosion was an accident. The head of the Khuzestan gas company had ruled out sabotage and said the incident was under investigation.
The state-controlled Press TV aired the confessions by Chabishat and Mousavi, in which they admitted to blowing up the gas pipeline, and in August 2013, the two men were found guilty of sedition and acts against the security of the Islamic Republic and sentenced to death by Judge Seyed Mohammad Bagher Mousavi of Branch 4 of the Islamic Revolution Court in Ahvaz.
Forcing false confessions from detainees under torture, which is then used as the main “evidence” against the defendants to convict them during their trials, is a routine practice of Iranian Intelligence, security, and Judicial officials. Typically, these forced confessions are then broadcast on national TV by the Islamic of Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), the state broadcasting agency, which works hand-in-hand with the Intelligence and security officials
