Hamid Nouri's court holds extraordinary session with two witnesses present; he faces two charges of war crimes and premeditated murder
An extraordinary and unscheduled court session for Hamid Nouri, accused of participating in the summer 2018 executions, was held on Monday, September 20, with the presence of two witnesses.
The trial began with the continuation of the testimony of Nasrallah Marandi, a witness from the tenth trial session, and questions from Daniel Marcus, one of the defendant's defense attorneys. These questions focused mainly on how and when the witness learned of Hamid Nouri's arrest and his identification as Hamid Abbasi, as well as the witness's first encounter with the defendant in 2017.
Massoud Ashraf Semnani was the second witness in the session outside the courtroom. The witness said that he was 21 years old and an engineering student at the time of his arrest and was sentenced to 7 years in prison in a five-minute trial without a defense attorney for supporting the MEK. Massoud Ashraf Semnani testified that he had repeatedly seen Hamid Nouri in Gohardasht Prison and on death row leading prisoners to execution.
He said that in early 2018, he saw Mohammad Moghiseh, known as "Nasserian," and Nouri (Abassi) two or three times when they came to the prison and threatened the children not to do group sports or pray in congregation. He heard from the prisoners who were taken for punishment that Hamid Nouri punished them. Ashraf Semnani testified that he was present several times during Hamid Nouri's interviews and confessions with the prisoners and witnessed him mocking the prisoners.
Mr. Ashraf Semnani said that he witnessed the torture and beheading of a prisoner nicknamed “Akbar Gorbachev” by Davoud Lashkari, and that he also saw a prisoner named Nasser Mansouri “throw himself down from his cell and the guards kicked him and… later executed him.”
Mr. Semnani also said, noting that he witnessed the guards carrying small bags containing watches, rings, folded papers, and other items, “I concluded that these [belonged to those executed.] They were taking these children. They were gone and we had no news of them, and there was never any news of them.”
Massoud Ashraf Semnani said he was twice confronted by members of the death squad – including Morteza Eshraghi, Hossein Ali Nayiri, and Esmail Shushtari – and was saved from execution by declaring his innocence of the MEK and agreeing to a video interview. He said he was then beaten by Nasserian and held in solitary confinement for more than a month.
Mr. Semnani said that a few months after his release in 2019, he was summoned for an interview and that Naserian handed him over to Nouri for an interview. The witness said that Hamid Nouri was responsible for the 10-minute video interview with him. After immigrating to Sweden, Massoud Ashraf Semnani helped Iraj Mosadaghi, the author of the prison memoirs, draw maps of the prison. Mosadaghi’s books are among the 65 written documents included in the court’s indictment.
The continuation of Masoud Ashraf Semnani's testimony was postponed to the next court session on Wednesday, September 22.
According to the indictment filed by Prosecutor Christina Lindhoff-Carlson, Hamid Nouri was a deputy prosecutor during the summer of 2018 executions at Gohardasht Prison in Karaj and participated in those executions. Nouri faces two charges of war crimes and premeditated murder.
Source: Voice of America
