SMU student Tiana Lightfoot (left) looks on as UTD student Sakina Hussain signs a petition to help the human rights movement. (Ben Briscoe)

Former Iranian political prisoner Manucher Mohammadi described his lifetime of political struggle at SMU’s Amnesty International Forum on Thursday night in Hughes-Trigg.

He described his brother’s death in detail, saying that, “Even though my brother’s mouth was so dry from his fast that he could barely speak, he could be heard yelling ‘democracy now!'” even though he was chained to his bed.

Mohammadi’s brother Akbar was the most well-known political prisoner in Iran. He died late last year after the scene described by Mohammadi above.

Partly because of his brother’s death, Mohammadi is now the frontrunner of the Iranian democracy movement. It is this story and the many other human rights violations in Iran that SMU Amnesty International, part of the worldwide campaign for the global recognition of human rights, brought him here to share.

The official position of the Iranian government is that Akbar died as a result of his hunger strike, but Mohammadi maintains that the government is responsible for the death of his brother and hundreds of other members of the Iranian opposition.

“Akbar was a hero, and he never experienced any fear. All the political prisoners knew him as the messenger of freedom, and for that he was killed,” Mohammadi said as tears rolled down his face and his translator spoke softly over him. “What is worse is he wasn’t the only one.”

He backed up his statement by telling the story of two men he met in prison.

According to Mohammadi, the men where part of a group of students who were “brainwashed” by the government into killing hundreds of high-profile members of the opposition to the government, including Akbar.

Mohammadi blames these “chain killings” on newly appointed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

“Ahmadinejad is a sick man. He does not understand democracy and he does not understand freedom,” Mohammadi said. “He justifies his rule by killing anyone who disagrees.”

But Mohammadi says the blame does not stop there.

“The real problem is with people who don’t speak up about the problem. It will never stop without the world knowing what is really going on,” he said. “That’s why I escaped from prison to be here today. So you would know. So you can help stop it.”