The Statement by Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims On the State Killing of the Honorable Iranian Lawyer, Khosrow Alikordi

The killing of Khosrow Alikordi, an honorable, committed Iranian lawyer and human rights defender, was not a “natural incident,” but rather another link in the long chain of systematic elimination of independent, justice-seeking voices and defenders of human dignity in Iran. This crime, which on its own demands immediate, independent, and transparent investigation, has today unfortunately been pushed into the shadows by deliberate and repressive distractions whose sole purpose is to marginalize the very demand for justice.

What took place during the seventh-day memorial and mourning ceremony was not merely a violation of the right to assembly and to grieve; it was an organized attempt to divert public attention from the crime itself, to sever the bond of justice-seeking between the family and the public, and to turn a humane demand into a scene of violence, intimidation, and arrest. The mass detention of dozens of participants, the beating of civil society activists, the attack on well-known figures including Narges Mohammadi, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Sepideh Gholian, Alieh Motalebzadeh, Hasti Amiri, Pouran Nazemi, Ali Adinehzadeh, and others, the beating and arrest of Javad Alikordi, the justice-seeking brother, and the lack of information about the fate of many detainees—all point to the continuation of the same pattern that for years has blocked the path to truth, justice, and accountability.

Normalizing such treatment is dangerous and devastating. If killing, the suppression of mourning ceremonies, mass arrests, and violence against mourners and civil activists go unanswered, this pattern will be repeated.

The central issue, above all else, is justice for the killing of Khosrow Alikordi—justice for a lawyer who devoted his life to defending rights and the rule of law, and who himself became a victim of lawlessness and security pressure.

We emphasize that:

• The suppression of freedom of expression, violence against civil activists, and arbitrary arrests must be condemned unconditionally.
• All those detained during the seventh-day memorial and mourning ceremonies must be immediately and unconditionally released; their health status—especially those in need of medical care—must be clarified, and access to medical services ensured.
• The core demand for justice for the life taken from Khosrow Alikordi must not be sacrificed to manufactured distractions, political exploitation, or exhausting rivalries.
• Media outlets and activists have a responsibility to focus on truth, justice, and the rights of victims, rather than reproducing sensationalism, creating false dichotomies, or deepening divisions.
• We must never allow state killing and repression to become “normalized.” We stand firm on the right to mourn and the right to seek justice.

We neither forget nor forgive the killers of Iran’s children.