50th Session of Hamid Nouri’s Trial; Witness States ‘Approximately 6,500 Male and Female Prisoners’ Were Executed in Evin

The 50th session of Hamid Nouri’s trial, accused of participating in the execution of political prisoners in the summer of 1367 (1988), was held on Thursday, the 18th of Azar 1400 (December 9, 2021), with testimony from Gholamreza Shemrani in Stockholm, Sweden.

The witness was arrested in the summer of 1360 (1981) for supporting the People’s Mujahedin Organization and was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment. He spent four months in the “Committee of Monotheism” prison, five years in Qarchak prison, and five years in Evin prison. He was in Evin prison during the 1367 (1988) executions.

The witness stated: Visits were suspended from early Mordad to late Mehr or early Aban 1367 in Evin prison. Martial law was established inside the prison, and movement after midnight was forbidden. The Revolutionary Guards had no right to leave or take furloughs, and those who had gone on furlough had to return to prison.

Shemrani testified that the mass killing in Evin prison began on the 5th of Mordad 1367 and lasted two months. He said that on the 5th of Mordad, the Revolutionary Guards took 23-year-old Amir Abdollahi from his cell and Mohammad Reza Sardar from the adjacent cell. Amir returned in the middle of the night with a guard and, while gathering his belongings, said in a distressed state that he had been taken to court and received a death sentence. Amir left that night and never returned. The witness stated that Amir and his 21-year-old brother Majid, who was in the adjacent cell, had previously been sentenced to life imprisonment.

The witness said he heard from other prisoners that the death committee spent half a day in Gohardasht prison and the other half in Evin prison. The witness could not recall the exact time of the executions in Evin prison, but said that as far as he knows, Reza Firoozi and Taghi Sedaqat Rassht were taken from their cells for execution on the first and second days of Mehr.

Mr. Shemrani testified that in total approximately 6,500 male and female prisoners were executed in Evin, and approximately 170 survived. The witness stated that prisoners who survived in Gohardasht prison were transferred to Evin prison in Bahman month, and the number of male prisoners in this prison totaled approximately 250 to 280 people.

He added that he himself spent time from late Shahrivar 1366 until the period of executions under interrogation, torture, and in solitary confinement. On the 8th of Mordad in the “Prosecutor’s Building” of Evin prison, he was brought before the death committee—or as the Evin guards called it, the “Imam’s Amnesty Committee.” The witness was brought again on the 18th, 21st, and the last time on the 23rd of Mordad to the death committee in “Building 209.” Shemrani, declaring his innocence of the People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran, escaped execution and was released in 1370 (1991). He was never interviewed in prison.

Gholamreza Shemrani testified that Ibrahim Raisi, the current President of Iran, after announcing his innocence before Niri and the death committee, insisted to Niri that he not accept his innocence, because “he is a great hypocrite.” Raisi faced a negative and harsh reaction from Niri, took Shemrani out of the court, and gave him a form to fill out with information.

During his visits to the death committee, Shemrani witnessed the transfer of more than 200 female political prisoners—women members of the People’s Mujahedin Organization—to the Prosecutor’s Building. He had seen Hossein Mortazavi, the then-head of Evin prison, happily clapping his hands at the entrance of the building.

The witness saw Hamid Nouri in Dey 1366 blindfolded and after the executions in Bahman 1367 along with Nasarian in Evin prison. Shemrani said that during the execution period, Hamid Abbasi (Nouri) in Gohardasht prison and Halvaei in Evin prison were very active in carrying out execution sentences. He heard from other prisoners that Deputy Prosecutor Majid Ziaeei, Assistant Deputy Prosecutor Majid Qodossi, and Hamid Nouri were responsible for interviewing prisoners after the executions.

Gholamreza Shemrani is now a French language translator and works nights in a state hospital. At the end of his testimony in court, he said he has lost everything in this path and his only wish is “the implementation of justice.”

The next session of the court will be held on Friday, the 19th of Azar, with testimony from Mohsen Zadeshir.

Source: Voice of America