Hamed Esmailiyon: Raisi Has Blocked the Path to Justice in the Ukrainian Plane Case
The Association of Families of Victims of the Ukrainian Plane, referring to Ibrahim Raisi’s membership in the Supreme National Security Council, emphasized in a statement that his name should not be removed from international sanctions lists.
Part of the statement reads that Ibrahim Raisi’s name should be “added to the sanctions list of Canada and other countries” and he should one day be held accountable for his responsibility in the “crime” of downing the Ukrainian plane and “his other crimes over the past four decades in Iran.”
Hamed Esmailiyon, spokesman for the Association of Families of Flight 752 Victims, referring to Ibrahim Raisi’s membership in the Supreme National Security Council, told Voice of America: “This council was responsible for leaving Iran’s airspace open on December 9, 2020 [Farsi calendar]; this is an unforgivable crime in which Ibrahim Raisi and other council members played a role.”
Mr. Esmailiyon added in this regard: “Ibrahim Raisi, by violating laws and families’ rights, has blocked the path to justice for them, and we are determined not only to prevent this person’s name from being removed from Western countries’ sanctions, but also to add to the sanctions that are imposed against him in Canada.”
Hamed Esmailiyon, who lost his son and wife in the tragedy of the Ukrainian plane being shot down by Revolutionary Guard missiles, regarding the investigation process of the Ukrainian plane case following Ibrahim Raisi’s election as Iran’s president, told Voice of America: “I do not believe there will be any progress in the investigation process in Iran. The Islamic Republic clearly intends to show its teeth and claws to the world regarding all human rights cases.”
The spokesman for the Association of Families of Flight 752 Victims added that affected families should not allow individuals such as Ibrahim Raisi to travel abroad easily and should, by presenting documents to human rights organizations, prevent Ibrahim Raisi from leaving the country and traveling to Western countries.
Hamed Esmailiyon told Voice of America: “Over the past eighteen months, I learned that if affected families do not cry out for justice, there will be no one listening in Western countries.”
On the morning of Wednesday, December 9, 2020 [Farsi calendar], hours after the Revolutionary Guard’s missile attack on a base hosting American forces in Iraq, which followed the killing of Qasem Soleimani in an American drone strike, a Boeing 737 passenger aircraft of Ukraine International Airlines with 176 passengers bound for Kyiv, after taking off from Tehran airport, was shot down after being hit by two missiles fired by the Revolutionary Guard.
Islamic Republic officials claimed for several days that the plane crash was due to a technical malfunction. However, the United States explicitly reported the downing of the plane at the same time. After several days, the Revolutionary Guard finally announced that it had “mistakenly” targeted the aircraft.
Source: Voice of America
