Switzerland's decision to end investigation into Kazem Rajavi's assassination was protested

On Monday, the Paris-based group's National Council of Resistance (NCRI) secretariat protested the Swiss prosecutor's decision to end the investigation into the 1990 assassination of Kazem Rajavi by next week due to the "statute of limitations."

Kazem Rajavi was the first ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations in Geneva, but resigned a year later in protest at the repressive policies of the ruling clerics. He was the older brother of Massoud Rajavi, founder of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, which is now led by his wife, Maryam Rajavi.

According to a 1993 Washington Post report, in August 1990, Kazem Rajavi's car was attacked near Geneva and he was shot six times, and his assassination "provides perhaps the clearest case of a connection to Tehran."

According to the Washington Post, “Swiss police and the Chatelin prosecutor’s office later announced that 13 Iranians were involved in the assassination. Most of them entered Switzerland on diplomatic passports issued in Tehran with the same date and for the mission. The report by the Chatelin district prosecutor’s office in Vernier, Switzerland, said that most of these individuals had flown to Switzerland from Tehran to Geneva on consecutive serial tickets a few months before the murder. Some of these individuals flew from Geneva to Vienna just two hours after the murder.”

The Washington Post reported in 1993 that "Chatlin had stated, based on the evidence gathered, that the direct role of one or more Iranian officials in the murder was confirmed."

In a statement protesting the Swiss prosecutor's decision, the Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance has named some Iranian officials who were involved in the assassination of Kazem Rajavi. Among them, Ali Fallahian, the Minister of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic at the time of the assassination, was mentioned. The statement also strongly criticized Switzerland's refusal to name Ali Khamenei, then-Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati, and then-Secretary of the Supreme Security Council of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, who were "the agents and commanders of this assassination."

The statement says, "The Iranian resistance strongly calls on the Swiss government and judiciary: The case should remain open. An international arrest warrant should be issued for the commanders and perpetrators who committed this terrorist murder."

According to a State Department “report” released on May 22, 2020, the Trump administration has sanctioned Ali Fallahian for his role in increasing human rights abuses during his time as the Minister of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic. The report states that “Fallahian, while in power, was involved in the murders of several political opponents in Europe, including those for whom Swiss and German courts issued arrest warrants.”

According to the US State Department's report, "The Iranian regime has been involved in assassinations, plots, and terrorist attacks in more than 40 countries since coming to power in 2018."

The US State Department also says that "Iran's global campaign of terror has included 360 assassination targets in other countries and bombings that have killed and injured hundreds."

Source: Voice of America