Hamid Nouri's trial reaches its eightieth session; a witness recounts several encounters with Hamid Nouri in the 1960s

The 80th trial of Hamid Nouri, accused of participating in the execution of political prisoners in the summer of 1988 in Gohardasht Prison, was held on Thursday, April 11, 2022, with the testimony of Alireza Akbari Sepehr in the Stockholm court in Sweden. This witness participated in the trial via video from Australia.

At the time of his arrest, Alireza Akbari Sepehr was a supporter of the “Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class,” an organization that, according to Shahed, had disbanded a few months before his arrest. In the fall of 1982, Shahed was arrested at Zahedan Airport while leaving the country with his pregnant wife and transferred to the Zahedan Committee. Five to six hours later, they were transferred to Tehran and finally to Evin Prison. Shahed’s wife gave birth in prison on January 15 and was transferred from solitary confinement to a general ward with their newborn son.

Three encounters with Hamid Abbasi (Nouri)

Alireza Akbari Sepehr had met and spoken directly with Hamid Nouri, the defendant in this trial, in Evin Prison three times in total. The first time was about two months after his wife gave birth and in interrogation ward 209 of Evin Prison when Nouri directly introduced himself as “Hamid Abbasi, the prison’s chief prosecutor” and informed him that he had been granted permission to visit his wife and newborn. After a ten-minute meeting with his family, the witness again met with Abbasi’s chief prosecutor – this time without the blindfold – and made a request. The witness told Abbasi that he had 104 or 108 thousand tomans with him at the time of his arrest, which he now intended to give to his family.

About a month later, Alireza Akbari Sepehri went back to the prison prosecutor's office to answer a number of questions about the aforementioned cash, including its source and transfer process, and for the second time appeared before "Dadiar Abbasi" without a blindfold.

Five to six months later, Alireza Akbari Sepehr will face the defendant again in person, without a blindfold, at the Evin Prison Prosecution Office. The witness was asked to sign documents allowing his newborn to leave Evin Prison.

Alireza Akbari Sepehr's trial was held in Evin Prison four to five months after his arrest, but he was not given a verdict. In mid-summer 1983, he was transferred from Evin Prison to Qezl-e-Hazar Prison, and finally, after fourteen months of arrest, he officially received his verdict. According to the person who served it, the verdict had been reduced from "death" to "twelve years in prison" in an "in absentia trial." The verdict listed the witness's accusation of being a supporter of the Pykar Organization and a war against the Islamic Republic.

Alireza Akbari Sepehri was transferred from Ghezel Hesar Prison to Evin Prison in late 1984 or early 1985. He never encountered Dadiyar Abbasi again in Evin Prison. Shahed was eventually transferred to Gohardasht Prison in early 1987 due to a group hunger strike. This group of prisoners transferred from Evin to Gohardasht Prison became known as the “Evinis.”

The story of the tunnel of death

Alireza Akbari Sepehri testified that he experienced a tunnel known as the “Tunnel of Death” in prison; a tunnel lined with IRGC soldiers on both sides, where prisoners were beaten in the worst possible way. He testified that he went through this tunnel on the day he arrived at Gohardasht Prison and was later taken to a ward with a group of Mujahideen, Nationalist, and Hokmard prisoners. The IRGC ordered them to be blindfolded and stripped naked, and then attacked them with cables, hoses, and other items.

Alireza Akbari Sepehr testified that before the executions began, he heard Friday sermons led by Hashemi Rafsanjani and the cry of “The hypocritical prisoner must be executed” over the loudspeakers of Gohardasht prison, along with his fellow prisoners. He said that on the same day, the IRGC removed the television from the prison under the pretext of being damaged. Radio and newspaper broadcasts were also cut off, and prison visits were also suspended. News of the apparent transfer of a group of prisoners to Gohardasht prison and the presence of the death squad, including Nayiri, Eshraghi, and Naserian, was spread among the prisoners mainly via Morse code.

Alireza Akbari Sepehr met and spoke with "Dadiar Abbasi" this time in Gohardasht Prison on death row and later. During the executions, the witness was in the presence of Lashkari and Hamid Nouri (Abbasi) and answered negatively to the question about praying and being interviewed, but claimed that he accepted "the appointment and prophecy". Two days later, after he was completely sure that the executions would take place, the witness also agreed to pray and be interviewed. He was later transferred to Evin Prison and released in March 2018.

Alireza Akbari Sepehr also confirmed the identity of the defendant 100% at the request of the prosecutor and by looking at him directly. The witness said that immediately after reading the news of the defendant's arrest and seeing his photo, past memories replayed in his mind. He testified that Hamid Nouri, the defendant in the trial, is definitely the same Hamid Abbasi with the same makeup and is only a little older.

During his testimony, Alireza Akbari Sepehr requested several times to be given time to explain his motivation for participating and testifying in Hamid Nouri's trial. In response to the witness's requests, Judge Thomas Sander, while emphasizing that he was obligated to appear as a witness in court, postponed this opportunity until tomorrow's session.

Hamid Nouri, the defendant, also complained during part of the court session about the noise around him, which was apparently heard from outside. The judge announced that he had noticed the issue and had personally requested an investigation. Hamid Nouri asked the judge to switch places with the prosecutors. In response, the judge ordered the defendant to be quiet.

The continuation of Alireza Akbari Sepehr's testimony has been postponed to tomorrow, Friday, Farvardin 12, 1401.

Source: Voice of America