A gay Iranian refugee has recalled being forced to watch executions in prison so that detainees would understand how they themselves might be killed.
Activist Ramtin Zigorat, who has been living in Spain as a refugee for the past six and a half years after fleeing Iran, said he was once arrested and held in a detention centre for 40 days. Describing the experience, he said: “They were the worst days of my life.”
Zigorat said he endured both “physical and psychological torture” while in custody. According to his account, he was beaten, filmed, urinated on and “treated like an animal”.
He was later sentenced to what he described as “several death penalties” on charges including “being a spy for who knows what, for sharing homosexual diseases, for going against Islam”, before being transferred to another prison.
Speaking to El Mundo America, he said: “Every morning they forced us to look out a window at the courtyard where they executed people so we would know how they were going to kill us.
“We had to watch for five minutes while they died. If we closed our eyes, they would beat us. I still have nightmares about that.”
Zigorat said his mother was eventually able to secure his release after selling her land to pay bribes, although the arrangement came with the condition that he remain confined to the family home for two years.
A year later, his mother died from cancer. With the help of other relatives, he was later able to escape Iran and make his way to Spain.
Reflecting on his life now, Zigorat said: “I feel well taken care of in Spain. I still have many nightmares. But here they take care of me, and through my work, I try to take care of others.”
