Trial of Hamid Nouri in Sweden, a Significant Event in Iran’s Political History

This coming Tuesday, the 19th of Mordad, a trial will be held in Stockholm, Sweden in which the defendant is an Iranian; he is accused of involvement in a massacre that took place 33 years ago in one of Iran’s prisons.

The defendant in this trial is Hamid Nouri, also known as Hamid Abbasi. According to information contained in the indictment, Hamid Nouri served as a judicial assistant and aide to the assistant of the prosecutor at the time—Mohammad Moghisseh, under the alias Naserian—between the months of Mordad and Shahrivar of 1367 (June-September 1988), during the mass execution of political prisoners in Gohardasht Prison in Karaj.

Nouri is accused of, in cooperation and consultation with other defendants and perpetrators of the summer 1367 (1988) massacre, intentionally taking the lives of many political prisoners, mostly members or supporters of the People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran, as well as members of leftist groups and other factions.

Hamid Nouri entered Stockholm Airport on a direct flight from Iran on November 8, 2019, and was immediately arrested and detained. This action was carried out based on the principle of universal jurisdiction and Swedish law, under the designation of crimes against humanity, serious crimes, or war crimes and intentional murder. This principle allows domestic courts of countries to prosecute a suspect in their domestic courts without regard to his nationality or which country the crime took place in.

The arrest of Hamid Nouri was made with the help of several individuals and the key role of Iraj Mesdaghi, a former political prisoner, in a pre-coordinated operation by Swedish prosecutors.

His final detention order was issued five days after his arrest on November 13, 2019. He is the first defendant in the massacres of 1367 (1988) to be arrested and tried, and outside the country where the crime took place.

The indictment against Hamid Nouri was issued by the Swedish Prosecutor’s Office for International Crimes and Organized Crime, specifically by the prosecutor of the section, Christina Lindhoff Carlsson, and was delivered to Swedish judicial authorities.

Upon examination of the indictment, we find that the prosecutor has accused Hamid Nouri in connection with torture, inhumane treatment, and execution of Mujahedin prisoners of serious violation of international laws such as Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and serious violation of its common Article 3. Regarding leftist party prisoners, Nouri is also accused of participation in intentional murder; that is, in cooperation and participation with other defendants and in the course of an unjust trial, he facilitated and in some cases carried out death sentences by the death committee.

The Swedish prosecutor’s indictment includes the names of 110 Mujahedin prisoners and 26 prisoners affiliated with leftist parties who were executed in Gohardasht Prison. It also includes the names of 23 prisoners who were supporters of the Mujahedin and survived this massacre.

In another section of this indictment, we find the names of individuals who will testify as witnesses in the court, with their most important role being the identification and confirmation of Hamid Nouri’s identity as Hamid Abbasi. The testimony of witnesses in the indictment shows that Hamid Nouri was one of the principal figures in Gohardasht Prison who oversaw monitoring of prisoners, directing them to the death committee, and later participating in their executions.

At the end of the indictment, the names of seven experts appear who will testify specifically on whether the conflict between the Mujahedin Organization and the Iranian government was a domestic armed conflict or an international one. These experts will also opine on the result of the fatwa or decree of Ayatollah Khomeini and the question of whether Mujahedin prisoners were protected under the Fourth Geneva Convention and some of its additional protocols. The complainants in the case have been divided into four groups, and four lawyers will separately represent each group. Daniel Markus and Thomas Söderqvist are Hamid Nouri’s defense lawyers in this trial.

Based on the indictment, the prosecutor has considered the military attack by the People’s Mujahedin Organization from within Iraqi territory against Iran to be part of an international armed conflict. The prosecutor has noted that even if this conflict is not considered an international armed conflict, it should be considered a domestic and non-international armed conflict that took place on June 25, 1367 (1988) between Iran and the political organization of the People’s Mujahedin of Iran.

The prosecutor’s indictment includes 65 documents and evidence. These documents include evidence from families of the killed, reports from Amnesty International and Iran Tribunal, books and evidence presented by some prisoners who survived this massacre such as Iraj Mesdaghi, and non-governmental organizations such as the Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation and Justice for Iran, which have been made available to the prosecutor and the court.

Hamid Nouri was not a member of the death committee, but according to the indictment, he is considered an accomplice who played a role in and facilitated torture, inhumane treatment, and ultimately the murders.

The members of the death committee in Tehran were four: Morteza Eshraqi, who joined this committee directly through the fatwa on executions issued by Ayatollah Khomeini. Hosseinali Niri, Mostafa Pourmohammadi, and Ebrahim Raisi, the current president of Iran, who was at that time the deputy prosecutor of the Tehran Revolutionary Court.

Survivors of the massacre, families of the killed, and those interested in Iran’s justice movement are very hopeful that the trial of Hamid Nouri will be a starting point for international investigation into the massacres of the 1960s decade, particularly the massacre of summer 1367 (1988), and the punishment of its perpetrators and organizers, especially Ebrahim Raisi, the president of Iran.

According to Swedish law, the most severe punishment for Hamid Nouri in case of conviction would be life imprisonment.

In this case, the manner of operation of opponents of the Iranian government, the cooperation and interaction between the People’s Mujahedin Organization and leftist groups, and supporters or former members of the Mujahedin Organization has been accompanied by numerous ups and downs. This case is not only important from the perspective of human rights and humanitarian dimensions, but the arrest and trial of Hamid Nouri in the court of another country is one of the important political events in Iran’s history, particularly in the history of Iran’s justice movement.

Source: Voice of America