The 25th Session of the 1967 Executions Court; A Witness's Account of the Gallows in Farghoni

In the 25th session of Hamid Nouri's trial in Stockholm, Sweden, which was held on Thursday, October 6, Majid Jamshidit, as a witness and plaintiff, said that he had accidentally seen and spoken to Hamid Nouri after his release from prison.

During the trial of Hamid Nouri on charges of participating in the execution of several thousand Iranian political prisoners in 1988, Mr. Jamshidit said that he had seen Hamid Nouri more than 15 times before the executions and noticed the cart in which the gallows were being carried.

Hamid Nouri is accused of participating in the mass executions of political prisoners as a former assistant prosecutor at Gohardasht Prison in Karaj, a charge he denies. He arrived at Stockholm Airport on November 9, 2019, on a direct flight from Iran, and was immediately arrested.

According to his lawyer, Majid Jamshidit was arrested in September 1981 while he was a student and was imprisoned for ten years in Evin, Qezelhesar, and Gohardasht prisons.

He said that Mr. Jamshidit had seen Hamid Nouri in Evin Prison in 1983, in Gohardasht Prison in 1986, and by chance in the street in 1994 or 1995.

Majid Jamshidit said that when he accidentally saw Hamid Nouri on Abbasabad Street in Tehran in 1974 or 1975, Nouri told him in embarrassment that he no longer worked in the prison: "In prison, they felt very powerful, but outside of prison, they felt afraid and maybe even ashamed. He immediately came to me and said that he no longer worked in the prison and was working in the mine."

He added that he saw four people in the death squad room and recognized (Hossein Ali) Nayiri and (Morteza) Eshraghi, and later realized that the other two were Ebrahim Raisi and Mostafa Pourmohammadi: "They questioned me for 20 minutes and took me to solitary confinement, and then I was transferred to the ward opposite Jihad, where the prisoners were not very involved in the executions. Naserian (Mohammad Moghiseh) and Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Nouri) lined everyone up, questioned them, and took them to the death corridor, where some did not return. After that, we heard silence again, and then they began executing the communists."

Mr. Jamshidit said that he had been sitting blindfolded on death row for two hours, and because he had seven years of experience using blindfolds, he knew how to try to see through them. He also said that the smell and sound conditions are very important for a prisoner: "Hamid Abbasi (Nouri)'s first direct encounter with me was in Gohardasht Prison in the execution corridor. He tapped me on the shoulder and said, 'Finally, it's your turn to recite your Fatiha.'"

In response to the prosecutor's question about how he knew it was Hamid Nouri, he said: "I could see him through the blindfold. I also recognized his voice. He was our ward guard in Evin Prison in 1983 for 4 or 5 months. I had heard him many times opening the door in a humiliating manner, knocking on our door with a key or a hose for food, toilet, and showering. He was also the one who came for interrogation and opened the door to take the prisoner away."

He said that "some people don't change much when they get old. He (Hamid Nouri) didn't change at all, he just got old. He was tall and thin compared to the average height of an Iranian man, with the same hair and a long nose."

Majid Jamshidit then referred to the meeting with his father in the presence of Naserian (Mohammad Moghiseh) and Hamid Abbasi (Nouri), and said that he was questioned and answered in the presence of his father, and when he removed the blindfold, he saw that his father, Naserian, and Hamid Abbasi were in the room: "They wanted to convince my father that I still support the Mujahedin and that is why they are not releasing me."

Majid Jamshidit, who lives in Canada, told Hamid Nouri's trial in Sweden that he was saved from execution by writing a letter condemning the People's Mojahedin Organization: "I knew that if I didn't write, I would be executed."

He said: "We weren't even sure that we would survive even if we accepted the conditions. That is, we didn't know the limits of our survival. In August 2018, I felt death near me for the umpteenth time, and I think that if those people who were executed had been willing to accept the conditions, they would have imposed harsher conditions and killed more of us because they had decided to execute a large number of us."

According to Mr. Jamshidit, on August 28, 1988, all the prisoners' news facilities were taken away, and "in the evening, with Ramin Ghasemi and Mehdi Vossoug, who had both been executed, we noticed some noises. We looked through a small window with very large iron bars and noticed that unusual movements were taking place. We noticed a wheelbarrow in which they were carrying a noose. On the right side, there was a shed or container and we heard the sound of joy and prayers. That same night, 20 of the children were taken away, and the other 20 did not return. We had previously noticed that Morsi was talking about the death squad, and we realized that big things were happening. That's why we were more alert when they took us and lined us up."

He said that Davud Lashkari, Naserian (Mohammad Moghiseh), and Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Nouri) would question and answer the prisoners, and "if a prisoner did not say 'MKO' and said 'MEK' or something else, he would be taken away. They asked me to do an interview myself and condemn the MEK's positions, but I refused."

According to him, "The first person was Nasserian (Mohammad Moghiseh). Lashkarian and Hamid Abbasi (Nouri) were after him."

Before his arrest, Majid Jamshidit said he was a supporter of the People's Mojahedin Organization and distributed their leaflets, but he had cut off his ties with the organization two months before his arrest.

He said about how his prison sentence was issued: "They took us into a room. (Hossein Ali) Nayeri was talking on the phone. He was buying rice over the phone and at the same time, they sentenced Majid Kuchakpour to death and I was given a prison sentence."

He said that he had been sentenced to five years in prison, but in 1983 he was sentenced to ten years in prison again: "In 1983 I went to court again. They recognized us as local leaders, and for that reason I was tried and convicted again."

Majid Jamshidit then referred to the execution of a prisoner named Nasser Mansouri, who "suffered from a spinal cord injury, was taken to the death squad room on a stretcher and executed in the same position."

Hamid Nouri has denied the allegations. According to his lawyer, Hamid Nouri's position is that "these executions never happened and he cannot accept the allegations."

Hamid Nouri's lawyer claims that his client was on leave due to the birth of his child at the time of the executions in August and September 1988.

Source: Radio Farda