Javad Heydari — A Protestor Whose Life Could Have Been Saved
by Zamaneh Media — 30September2022
“I wear white… Black should be worn by those whose hearts are stone and whose oppression flows…”
On Thursday, September 22nd, Javad Heydari was killed in the protests against the government murder of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini. Heydari died due to a lack of medical attention after being shot by security forces on Hokm Abad street near Qazvin’s Mellat Park.
Based on information provided to Zamaneh, Heydari’s family has yet to receive an official report on the death of their son, however, according to information provided to the family, he was shot near the hip 5 minutes to 8 on the evening of Thursday, September 22nd.
“The bullet hit him from a very close distance, and most likely, from behind, exiting from the other side of his body.” Says the source.
The informed source further added that his family was unaware of what had happened to Javad Heydari until hours later when they took him to the hospital:
“Javad died of blood loss. The report they gave to the family stated that he was taken to the hospital at 11:00, 3 hours after he was injured. Another story is that after they shot him, they took him to their headquarters where he was kept for hours before the ambulance arrived. As far as I know, Javad was shot from behind because his family saw his body before his burial and he had a huge wound which suggests he was shot from a close range.”
While some details are unclear, a source tells us that it was possible to save Javad Heydari’s life as the emergency room was only 5 minutes away from the site of the incident. The delay in transferring him to the hospital most likely led to the severe bleeding leading up to his death.
Javad Heydari was transferred to “Shahid Rajaei” hospital in Qazvin about 3 hours after he was shot. Around 12pm, his wife calls his family to notify them that he had not returned home yet:
“The family tried to follow up on Javad’s situation by going to the police station, but they didn’t receive any news until the next day, Friday, September 23. This was when one of their relatives told them to stop looking for Javad because he had been killed.”
A close source to Zamaneh states that when Javad arrived in the hospital, CPR was performed, but was unsuccessful. He was then transferred to “Behesht-e-Fatemeh” morgue in Qazvin, where he was marked as an unknown person until the family claimed the body.
Javad Heydari was finally buried in “Rahmat Abad Grand” village in Qazvin on Sunday, September 25th. The family was urged to carry out a quick and quiet funeral:
“They said, either you take him and bury him right now or we will bury him wherever we want ourselves. They didn’t give any time, they even sent an intermediary to say that Javad died due to some sort of accident or incident. The family stood their ground. I must say the presence of other people helped alleviate the pressure from the authorities because it was quite a grand ceremony with a lot of people.”
Zamaneh’s source said that the family of Javad Heydari never gave in to the pressure which urged them to state that their son died of an accident. They repeatedly announced that their son was murdered in the public protests with a “war bullet”.
As seen previously, security forces still maintained a significant presence at Javad’s funeral:
“When the family went to pick up the body, there was a lot of security presence. They did not want the family to see his body. After he had arrived for burial and more of Javad Heydari’s family showed up, the crowd made the security forces retreat. It was clear that the security forces wanted to prevent crowds from gathering.”
Zamaneh’s source says that one of the pressures placed by the security forces was regarding a banner the family had hung in front of their house which read, “Dear Javad, your martyrdom is blessed”, which security forces tried to take down.
Javad Heydari was 39 years old, born October 31, 1982. He was married and had studied agricultural engineering, majoring in animal science. Javad Heydari was the fifth child in a family of five sisters and five brothers.
A source describes Javad’s character as:
“He was very hardworking, talkative, tolerant and compassionate. He cared a lot about social issues, freedom and anti-tyranny. He would say, in family conversations, to tell your children everything, all the paths and dangers, but in the end let them choose the path themselves. He would tolerate many difficult conditions, but he would never be forced into something…”
According to our information, Javad Heydari is the first and only person to die in the protests so far, in the city of Qazvin.
Javad’s sister shared a photo of herself on her personal Instagram and wrote:
“”I wear white… Black should be worn by those whose hearts are stone and whose oppression flows…”
According to reports by Amnesty International published on September 23rd, over 52 people including children, have been killed by security forces using deadly weapons in the nationwide protests against the murder of Mahsa Amini.
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