Families chant ‘Death to IRGC’ and ‘Death to Islamic Republic’ during second hearing of Ukrainian plane trial
Concurrent with the second court hearing for those accused of shooting down the Ukrainian passenger plane, a number of families of victims of this flight held a protest rally and gathering in front of the Tehran military court, amid a siege by law enforcement and security forces, demanding trial of the perpetrators and masterminds of this crime.
These families, in addition to holding photographs of the Ukrainian flight victims, carried placards that read, “Pre-trial case review is our legitimate and legal right.”
According to videos published on social media, the protesting families chanted slogans such as “Truth-Justice,” “Death to Hajizadeh,” “Death to Salami,” “Death to Shamkhani,” “Death to Bagheri,” “Death to IRGC,” and “Death to Islamic Republic.”
The Association of Families of Victims of Flight PS752, in a report released on December 3 analyzing the shooting down of this plane by IRGC missiles, emphasized that the Ukrainian passenger plane, contrary to claims by Iranian officials, was not shot down due to “human error” by an operator or multiple failures in the missile defense system, and responsibility is not limited to a few lower-ranking IRGC members; because based on available evidence, the Islamic Republic must present evidence to prove it did not intentionally shoot down this plane.
The report also stated that the Iranian government, at the highest levels of military alert, kept the country’s airspace closed to passenger flights, using them as a human shield against potential American attacks.
Islamic Republic officials initially announced that the plane crash was due to technical defect. However, the United States specifically reported the shooting down of the plane at the same time. After several days, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps finally admitted it had mistakenly targeted the plane.
Domestic media outlets have not yet published reports about the second court hearing for the case of the passenger plane shootdown and the protest gathering of families of victims of the Ukrainian flight in front of the Tehran military court.
Source: Voice of America
