SAVAK Cast a Black Shadow on the Law

Translated by Ruhollah Golmoradi

2024-7-18

It was anniversary of the 15th of Khordad (June 5, 1963), and Qom, especially Feyziyeh, had a different atmosphere. Every day, a notice and a tape of a speech arrived from Najaf, which was very encouraging; Imam [Khomeini] was specifically sensitive about memorializing this day, as he said after victory of the revolution, “The fifteenth of Khordad—we lost men with a strong will and young people left our nation—is a turning point in history and the origin of this movement. Those who rose up on the 15th of Khordad, they rose up as men, and they said “no” in front of the wicked and were martyred, they became the origin of this great movement. I ask God Almighty for mercy for them, and for their survivors, health, patience and happiness.”

That day was the anniversary of Khordad 15 (June 5), in my opinion it was the year 1971, when Feyziyeh showed another anger and actually welcomed Imam's call to commemorate the anniversary of that great incident. Because there was a conflict inside the school and the agents of SAVAK and Shah were beating Talabas (theology students in seminary) and the doors were closed so that no one could leave the school; so in order to inform the people about the situation inside Feyziyeh, the students attached Long (Yazdi tradition towel) to broomsticks and raised them. On that day, the regime's newspapers wrote that the communist red flag was flying on the roof of Feyziyeh. It was there that the agents of the regime arrested a group of Talaba, one of whom was me [Hujjat al-Islam Wal-Muslimeen Akbar Hamidzadeh Givi]. There were a lot of people who were arrested, about “thirty-three”, all of whom were transferred to Qom’s SAVAK. There was no difference between the students who were in Feyziyeh, that what their tendencies were; moreover, some like me, because my speeches in Tehran and the position I held in the ceremonies, I was definitely persecuted that I was arrested in those special circumstances. I believed that it was necessary to move, as the famous saying goes, “If you're thinking about burning, be a butterfly.” In fact, this idea was what motivated me that I left Dar al-Tabligh, otherwise, I had a luxuriate Hojreh (small shop in Iran’s bazars), a clean building like Dar al-Tabligh library and privileges at Dar al-Tabligh, and Ayatollah Shariatmadari paid special attention to me; privileges that were not available to other students, but because I was motivated, I chose my path consciously. Of course, those who were arrested in Feyziyeh were of all types.

On the occasion of the anniversary of Khordad 15th, a huge gathering was formed in Feyziyeh, and this gathering was so important that Feyziyeh was besieged in the shortest time. As they closed the doors and in fact the exit way of the school was blocked, some students went to get out of the school through the roof and did not find a way and saw the officers have taken over everywhere and because their voices were not heard, they raised the broomsticks and tied the longs like flags to the broomsticks and set them in motion so that the people would realize that there is butchery in Feyziyeh. For this reason, they announced that a red flag was waved on the roof of Feyziyeh. They caught me in the same situation, while they hit me two or three times with a baton so that I could neither stand on my feet nor even sit down; that is, I was lying like a numb person and they took me to SAVAK. That day, one of Mr. Behjat's sons, his eldest son, was with us. I think he was Mohammad Hossein, I don't remember exactly. There was a student named Mr. Dastmalchi, he was a tall Talaba and I don't know if he is alive or dead. A student named Mr. Sarabi, another named Mr. Faqihi, a student named Mr. Salavati, who was a very talented student, and a student named Mr. Saeedian, who was among Ayatollah Montazeri's entourage. We were 32, some had been arrested inside Feyziyeh and some outside the school; maybe for almost two months, I don't remember more or less, after the interrogations, they were sent us to Kazeroon for military service.

When Feyziyeh became crowded, they arrested some people, one of whom was me and it was in the situation where I was trying to save one of my friends, martyr Sheikh Sadegh Rafiei, who was martyred in the 1987 Mecca incident. I fell into the trap of the agents and I was transferred to SAVAK detention center in Qom. Later, I found out that about thirty-two other people were arrested in that incident, of course, I have no doubt that I had been identified in advance, because based on the interrogations, they asked about my going to places and with people who there and they were also monitored by SAVAK. After almost two months and more who I was detained, I noticed that there were several other friends in the cells next to mine. The future was unclear and the sky was cloudy, I didn't know how they would treat me and my friends; until they finally put us on a bus and some army jeeps moved behind the bus. I imagined they would transfer us to Tehran. I asked my friends where are they taking us? No one answered, as if those who knew were also afraid to say something, but the officer who was next to the driver said, “They will take you to Kazerun!” I thought maybe they wanted to banish but soon it became clear that they took us for military service. I thought about everything and everywhere, except for the military, because according to the rules of the conscription system of that day, I had an educational exemption. There was an honorable cleric, on Nasser Khosrow Street, if I am not mistaken, named Mr. Sabouri; through whom a letter was written to the late Mr. Ezzeddin Zanjani, and I went to Zanjan and got an educational exemption card through that gentleman. Therefore, I did not think that such a thing would happen; however, I was unaware that they did not even respect their own regulations and the black shadow of SAVAK was more decisive than the laws and regulations of the country. Anyway, we were transferred to Kazerun Training Center, which was managed by the Gendarmerie.

Source: Hamidzadeh Givi, Akbar (2019). Revolutionary Orator: Thoughts and Memoirs of Hujjat-al-Islam Wal-Muslimeen Akbar Hamidzadeh Givi, Tehran, Imam Khomeini Editing and Publishing Institute, Oruj Publishing Institute, pp. 114-116.