Report on Eighteenth Session of Hamid Nouri Trial; One Witness States: What Had We Done to Deserve Torture and Execution?

The eighteenth session of the trial of Hamid Nouri, accused of participating in the executions of summer 1988, was held on Wednesday, September 21, with a continuation of questioning of Masoud Ashraf Samani, the witness from the previous court session.

The prosecutor raised the names of many prisoners that Ashraf Samani had previously mentioned during interrogations, and once again compared some of the most important cases with today’s witness testimony in court. Among them were the names of individuals such as Hamid Nejati, Ibrahim Akbari Sifat, and Hojjat Nikouei.

The witness, while identifying Hamid Nouri as Hamid Abbasi, with tearful eyes asked: “How could individuals like Hamid Nouri kill these young people like this? These young people had sentences. Why were we being tortured for group sports?”

Mr. Ashraf Samani testified that August 29 was the date the executions began. He spoke of a day when a guard took him to a room and showed him bags, asking him about the identity of their owners. The witness said he believes these bags belonged to executed prisoners and that they wanted to hand them over to their families.

Nouri’s defense lawyers posed many questions to the witness regarding prison maps in Iraj Mesdaghi’s book. Mr. Ashraf Samani said that sixteen years ago he had drawn prison maps in Mesdaghi’s books. The defense lawyers also claimed that the dates stated by the witness in the Iranian tribunal court differed compared to the current court.

In response to this claim and the question of why he had not mentioned Hamid Nouri’s name in the symbolic tribunal court hearing, the witness said that at the time of his testimony in the symbolic tribunal court, he had been careless about the dates and added: “That court was not about individuals. It was about the execution process.”

Masoud Ashraf Samani repeatedly became emotional in the courtroom and broke down in tears. He said: “What had we done to deserve torture and execution?” He said he has been under treatment for years and has suffered from “post-traumatic stress disorder.”

The witness said that since two years ago when the Hamid Nouri case began, his nightmares have returned and he sleeps no more than two or three hours a night. He said he is an ordinary person, but given the suffering he has endured, he cannot be impartial and seeks justice.

Masoud Ashraf Samani faced the death committee twice in 1988, including Eshragi, Niri, and Shushtar. Samani testified that before and after his presence in the corridor of death, he was beaten by Nasserians and was in solitary confinement for more than a month, and was saved from execution by declaring his disassociation from the Mujahideen and his willingness to be interviewed.

According to the witness, this interview took place ten minutes after his release in 1989 by Hamid Nouri.

Due to the length of Mr. Ashraf Samani’s testimony, the hearing for the testimony of Hamid Nejati Khalagh Dost was postponed from Wednesday to the next court session.

Based on a pre-arranged schedule, in the next court session scheduled for Thursday, September 22, Solmaz Alizadeh will also testify. Solmaz Alizadeh lost her father, Mahmoud Alizadeh, during the summer 1988 executions. Her testimony will be given in English with an interpreter.

Source: Voice of America