Families of Flight 752 victims file lawsuit against three top Iranian security and military officials
On Sunday, May 16, the families of the victims of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 gathered in front of the Armed Forces Judicial Organization to demand criminal charges against three high-ranking Iranian security and military officials.
Hamed Esmailiyon, spokesman for the Association of Families of the Victims of Flight PS 752, wrote on social media that following their previous complaint against Amir Ali Hajizadeh, Commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force, this time they filed a complaint with the prosecutor's office against Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Hossein Salami, Commander-in-Chief of the IRGC, and Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces.
Mr. Esmailiyon, who lost his wife and young daughter in the incident of the downing of a Ukrainian plane by the IRGC's anti-aircraft fire, stated that these families also expressed their objection to the trial process and the manner in which the prosecution's final decision was communicated.
About two weeks before this gathering, the Association of Families of Ukrainian Flight Victims announced that the Military Prosecutor's Office had sent a notice to the plaintiffs' families informing them that it had issued a restraining order against high-ranking government officials in this case.
According to the association, the military prosecutor's office has only issued arrest warrants for "ten anonymous people," and "the families' lawyers' requests to study the case, learn about the expert report, interrogations, statements of the accused, and find out their names have not led anywhere."
Ukraine has repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with the process of investigating the case of those accused of the incident, saying that the refusal of Iranian officials to provide answers and objective evidence strengthens the suspicion that the downing of the Ukrainian plane was intentional, an accusation that Iran denies and insists that "human error" caused the plane to be shot down.
Mr. Esmailiyon, continuing his report on Sunday's gathering of the plaintiff's families in front of the Armed Forces Judicial Organization, reported that security forces confronted them.
He wrote that after the rally, military and law enforcement forces in plainclothes began taking photos of the families, and the mothers' protest was met with confrontation by plainclothes forces.
There have been numerous reports of Iranian security forces intimidating the families of those killed in Flight 752. The Canadian Intelligence and Security Agency also stated in its annual report last month that there are "credible reports" of harassment and intimidation of the families and relatives of victims of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps' shooting down of the Ukrainian plane in Canada.
Ukrainian airliner PS 752 was shot down on January 8, 2019, by at least two missiles fired by the Revolutionary Guards, killing all 176 people on board.
Source: Radio Farda
