Ahmad Ahmad Memoirs (20)

Edited by Mohsen Kazemi

Ahmad Ahmad Memoirs (20)
Edited by Mohsen Kazemi
Soureh Mehr Publishing Company
(Original Text in Persian, 2000)
Translated by Mohammad Karimi

Qasr Prison
When the trail was over they transferred us to Qasr Prison (1) on Thursday. There, they separated 15 of us whose verdicts were  death, life or long imprisonment sentences and sent them first to a newly constructed school and then to a big but dirty room where coal was kept. This room was the old visiting room of the 1st row. They wanted to move us to Prison No. 1 during the next days. Since I was familiar with that prison because of my brother’s presence there, I told the pals that Prison No.1 is for ordinary prisoners and the atmosphere there is immoral. Some others approved what I told. So, we decided to confront in case if being sent there. They separated thirteen of us including Mohammad Javad Hojjati Kermani and Javad Mansouri and sent them Prison No. 3. We started to protest from the very first night and asked to be sent there too. But they said there are communist and Marxist prisoners and they may mislead you. Our pals continued their protest without paying attention to what they say.  The same night a cleaner came to our room and asked: “Who is Ahmad? Who is Shalchi?” Mohammad Shalchi and I introduced ourselves. He said: “Haj Agha Araqi (2) has sent you this food (Dampokhtak) and said ‘you should never ever accept to come to Public Prison!’” Hearing this, we became sure. We started to recite Du’a Kumayl together when our dinner was finished. Mr. Akbar Salahmand recited the Du’a so languishing and the pals were crying. Suddenly the guard opened the door and burst in and said: “You, who were not brave enough, why have entered this kind of activity?!” Hearing this sentence, some of us began to laugh in the middle of crying. After the Du’a the young ones went asleep. Abbas Agha Zamani (Abu Sharif), Yousef Rashidi and I who were older than others talked with each other and undertook to impede the transference of our young friends to Prison No. 1. Then we told over last words to each other and became ready to confront the matter up to our martyrdom.
The late Mr. Araqi sent another message and insisted: “You should resist and not go to Public Prison. We have informed your families. Right now they are gathered behind prison walls and are asking for your transference to political prison.”
His wittiness and promptitude in this move was a great surprise and a lesson for us.
About 9 o’clock in the morning the guards came and called Mohammad Baqer Senoubari and Hassan Tabataba’i and two other people. They said since these people are aged less than 18, they should be sent to reform school. As a matter of fact we knew it was not reform school but a destroying one and it would bring bad consequence for those young boys. When they said that, we got angry and reacted sharply. Haj Yousef Rashidi (3) who was a strong man attacked one of the guards who was a lieutenant and then lifted him and wanted to drop him on the ground that we stopped him. Then the guards went away. The guards reported the matter to the Prison’s Director. Then they decided to confront with us by force. Colonel Kourangi (4) and Major Teymouri (5) came to us before using force and said: “Stop this kind of deeds. You are Muslim a just like what we are. Do not disturb here. We do not care about your religious believes. We want to take to political prison but there is not enough room for you. What should we do? We are not here to kill you. We are guards only and not from SAVAK…”
They talked a lot in this regard, but we resisted enthusiastically. Considering the gathering of families in front of the prison, they accepted to send few people to Prison No.3. However, some of us had to accept to go to Prison No. 1 in order to make free room for others in Political Prison. We talked to each other and decided to send the young ones to Prison No. 3. At last 13 of us were sent to Prison No. 1.
In Prison No. 1 they sent us to the 2nd row. This row was one of the dirtiest rows of Qasr Prison and it was known as “The folk of Lut” row where the sodomy prisoners were kept.
There, at first they asked us to locate in two different rooms. But because of the dirtiness of this row we decided to gather in one room and do not separate from each other despite there was so small.
In the 2nd row, beside sodomy, stealing the individual’s properties was usual; shortly after our arrival in few hours some pairs of slippers were lost. The room that our thirteen people group had been located in was only sixteen square meters and not enough for rest.
Haj Yousef Rashidi who was a strong man most of them would sit in front of the door to guard others who were inside. At nights we would take turns to guard and save others.
The miserable immoral conditions of this row had made us so upset. Each morning we would observe a strange scene. The guards would punish the ones who had committed sodomy the night before by shaving their heads one after the other in a line.
Hygienically speaking there was a miserable place. All the blankets and clothes were lousy. The toilets were dirty and without doors and wire meshes.
The interesting point was the ignorance of the prisoners there. They had no problem with these conditions and even they would add to by the form of life they had. They did not care even if the toilets had door or not. Instead of doors they had torn blanket hanging in front of the toilets. All the walls were covered with vulgar words and sentences. We would not go to WC alone. One of us would gon in and the other would stand at door to watch out.
The first day of our arrival there, we met a huge person whose name was Issa and it seemed that he was the person in charge of the row. He came to our rom and asked: “You are the ones who had come recently?” and we said yes. The he asked: “Haj Araqi has sent me to manage any affair you had. And if someone bothered you just tell me to fix him…”
Then he explained the miserable conditions there. The interesting point to us was the wittiness of Haj Araqi and his deep influence inside the prison that even could have attracted the wicked people. This way he was supporting us. Mr. Asgar Oladi and he beside supporting us inside prison and sending resistance messages could have been able to conduct a series of attempts to put pressure on the prisons’ officials through organizing the moves by our families.
About 12 days passed and we hardly tolerated the awful prison conditions. Our beards and hair had grown long. It was intolerable. We declared that if they would not change these conditions, we would go on hunger strike. We were determent on these decision and ready to face any consequences.

1- Qasr Prison had four prisons in 1966. Prison No. 1 and 2 were used for ordinary prisoners and Prisons No. 3 and 4 were for political ones.
2- The late Mr, Araqi along with some other members of Islamic Coalition Party were in prison at this time because of assassinating Hassan Ali Mansour by Mohammad Bukharaee.
3- Haj Yousef Rashidi, was born in 1936 in Arak. His father was killed during WWII by US soldiers. Yousef who only a kid was forced to immigrate to Tehran to work in bakery of a relative to make his family living. He began practicing Islamic rules from the age of thirteen. Because of his freedom seeking spirit he had to pass hard days during his military service and was in collide with the officers and commanders several times. He would take part in the speeches sessions of the clergy Sadeghi Rashad in Imam Zaman Mosque located in Abbassi crossroads and also the classes for Jame’-ul-Moqadammat. There he was acquainted with Seyyed Asghar Qureyshi and Seyyed Jamal Nikou Moqaddam and Ramezan Soltani. Mr. Qureyshi invited him to INP. After being arrested he was sentenced to 4 years in prison in the primary court and in the revision court to 6 months in prison… when freed he continued his fight against the regime by helping other fighters with facilities and place for hiding. He was called to SAVAK and Common Committee several times. During the revolutionary days he joined the Welcoming Committee of Imam Khomeini at Refah School. After the victory of Islamic Revolution he joined Islamic Revolution Guards Corps. 1981 he returned his previous job in Iran Air.
In 1986 his son, Hadi, was martyred in Karbala V Operation at the age of 15. Yousef Rashidi was a determined fighter and never left his belives.
4- Brigader Asghar Kourangi, the Head Director of Qasr Prison.
5- Director of Prisons 3 and 4 in Qasr Prison.