Twelfth Session of Hamid Nouri’s Trial Held, Accused of Participation in 1967 Executions

The twelfth session of Hamid Nouri’s trial, accused of participating in executions during the summer of 1967, was held on Monday, September 6, and was devoted to testimony from Homayoun Kaviani, a former prisoner, as well as questioning by prosecutors and defense lawyers for the accused.

Homayoun Kaviani, who was arrested at age 17 following his participation in the June 21, 1981 protests, was sentenced to life imprisonment during a brief trial with three charges of “support for the Mujahedin organization,” “participation in the June 21 protests,” and “opposition to the Islamic Republic system.”

Mr. Kaviani testified in the twelfth session of the trial that he first encountered Hamid Nouri without a blindfold in prison in 1987. He stated that in Gohardasht Prison, Nasserian, the prison official, introduced Hamid Nouri to him and a group of fellow prisoners as his deputy and right-hand man.

The fourth witness in this trial spoke about the day when Hamid Nouri took him and several other prisoners to the “corridor of death,” and Nasserian led him to the “death committee”; Kaviani testified that he saw Hamid Nouri in that corridor wearing civilian clothes and carrying files, walking back and forth and calling out to others.

This witness further stated that Hossein Ali Niri in the death committee asked him what his opinion was about the Mujahedin’s attack on the western part of the country. Subsequently, Nasserian, at the request of the death committee, gave him a paper in which he condemned the Mujahedin’s attack on the western part of the country and requested amnesty from Ayatollah Khomeini, escaping execution with his life intact.

Kaviani said he was in the corridor of death when he read this sentence on the wall next to his shoulder: “Nine boys from Mashhad went to be executed,” and this was the moment he learned about the executions. He confirmed the statements of other witnesses regarding matters such as increased food rations during execution days, the arrangement of halls and cells, multiple tortures, the existence of a gas chamber, and the prohibition of collective sports.

Kaviani testified that during several nights he was in the interrogation corridor, he heard women’s voices saying: “Don’t touch me, you bastard. Let me go.” He said that after his transfer to Evin Prison in 1981, he heard gunfire sounds two or three nights a week. He said prisoners were aware of the number of executions each night by counting the number of bullets fired.

Kaviani spoke of several other instances of direct contact with Hamid Nouri, one of which occurred after his transfer to Evin Prison.

During that period, Homayoun Kaviani’s mother had contracted breast cancer and was dying. His father asked him to see if he could do anything to visit his mother one last time. Kaviani requested leave from Hamid Nouri, and Nouri said he would respond. Nouri later reported that his leave request had been denied. Another example of these encounters occurred after Kaviani’s release from prison.

The witness explained that after his release, he received a petition from the Evin Prosecutor’s Office to conduct an interview. He was taken to a Husseinyeh on the day of the interview and sat in front of a camera. That day, Kaviani sat without a blindfold a few meters away from Hamid Nouri.

The witness, in another part of his testimony, in response to a question from Hamid Nouri’s defense lawyer about this interview, said: “Hamid Abbasi had put a small camera and a chair up there. I went and condemned my entire life and thoughts and came down.”

Kaviani testified that after the executions, he approached Hamid Nouri several times for various matters, including jaw surgery and knee surgery, which had been damaged during interrogations. In response to the prosecutor’s question about how he felt when confronting Hamid Nouri in court, Kaviani said: “It is very difficult. One does not forget a person who has taken one’s loved ones.”

Another part of Homayoun Kaviani’s testimony was devoted to how he learned of Hamid Nouri’s arrest. The witness said that Iraj Mesdaq told him in a phone call that he has a legal prohibition against disclosing important news, but would tell him when the time comes.

Kaviani testified today that he saw Hamid Nouri’s photograph at the police station and during Swedish police interrogations. The prosecutor asked him if you had seen a photo of Nouri on social media before seeing his photo at the police station. Kaviani answered: “No.”

Later in the trial, Daniel Markus, one of Hamid Nouri’s defense lawyers, claimed that Kaviani’s testimony about when he saw Nouri’s photo differs and contradicts his statements at the police station and to the prosecutor.

Jöran Yalmarsson, Mr. Kaviani’s lawyer, emphasized at the beginning of today’s court session that the witness has suffered from mental and physical problems from events inside the prison for years and is under treatment in Switzerland, his place of refuge and residence.

The next court session will be held on Wednesday, September 8, in Stockholm, Sweden. The next witness in this trial will be Siamak Naderi.

Source: Voice of America