52nd Hamid Nouri trial session; witness says he has "no doubt" about the defendant's true identity
The 52nd trial session of Hamid Nouri, accused of war crimes and participation in the massacre of prisoners in the summer of 1988, was held today, Monday, December 12, with the testimony of Rahmat (known as Rahman) Ali Karami in Stockholm, Sweden.
Shahed was arrested in Tehran on September 12, 1988, at the age of 17, for supporting the People’s Mojahedin Organization (PMOI). He experienced various prisons and was finally transferred from Evin Prison to Gohardasht Prison six months before the executions – on February 19, 2017 – with a group of approximately 170 people. Ali Karami said that of these, 125 were supporters of the PMOI, ten were from religious groups such as Furqan, Movahedin, and Arman Mostazafin, and the rest belonged to leftist groups.
Ali Karami testified that Lashkari and Hamid Nouri took a group of 48 people with them in mid-August after the Mujahideen attack. Only 16 of this group returned.
The witness said that he had seen Hamid Nouri once in Evin Prison in 2013, and on the night of his transfer to Gohardasht Prison in 2017, he saw Hamid Nouri again and was beaten by him and the IRGC in the death tunnel.
In each court session, one of the most important parts is the questions the four plaintiffs' lawyers ask the court witnesses regarding the identification and confirmation of the execution of the individuals mentioned in the indictment. In this session, too, the witness confirmed the identity, presence, and execution of many prisoners.
He testified about how Mehdi Ishaqi was beaten by Hamid Nouri and sent to solitary confinement for three months. Rahmat Ali Karami, while testifying about a prisoner named Iraj Lashkari, said while he was being held captive that he was one of those who were transferred to Gohardasht with him… Iraj Lashkari was the one who was beaten the most in their group of 125 and sent to solitary confinement and then executed like many others.
Ali Karami said that after the executions on the anniversary of the revolution in Bahman 67, the prisoners who survived the executions met with their families in person for the first time in the same hall where the executions were carried out, and it was there that he saw Naserian and Hamid Nouri again.
He said that after being transferred to Evin Prison, he encountered Hamid Nouri again. There, as in Gohardasht Prison, Nouri was an assistant prosecutor and conducted pre-release interviews of prisoners in groups of 20-30. The witness said that Nouri had the same smile, look, and face, only he was older, and he had no doubt that he was the same Hamid Abbasi. He introduced Naserian as his interrogator who had tortured him.
Rahmat Ali Karami confirmed in court that he had interviewed Voice of America early in Hamid Nouri's arrest.
He said that he was released from Evin Prison in December 1991 after serving more than ten years in prison.
The next court session on Wednesday, December 15, will be dedicated to the testimony of Manouchehr Eshaghi.
Source: Voice of America
