Testimony of residents of Ashraf 3 about henchman Hamid Noury (Abbasi)
Witnesses to the massacre of 1988 and the families of the martyrs were interviewed for 10 days by the Swedish prosecutor’s office under the supervision of the Albanian prosecutor’s office
Warning against blackmail and any pressure or political machinations of the clerical regime against Sweden
Following the statement of the Security and Counter-Terrorism Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (November 15, 2019, on the case of arrested henchman in Sweden) and the report of the Judicial Committee (July 3, 2020, on the testimony and providing documents about henchman Hamid Noury) and the national-level and international measures mentioned in that report, the Swedish prosecutor’s office, under the supervision of the Albanian prosecutor’s office, interviewed the witnesses of the 1988 massacre and the families of the victims in Ashraf 3, Albania, for 10 days starting from November 7, 2020. They listened to their accounts and asked questions. Witnesses recounted scenes, observations, and shocking personal experiences related to this henchman and the crimes committed by the religious fascism ruling Iran, all of which were transcribed and recorded. A summary of this effort is provided below for our compatriots.
1. On November 22, November 25, and December 1, 2019, several lists containing the names of prisoners who witnessed the crimes committed by Hamid Noury (Abbasi), as well as of families whose loved ones were executed in the massacre of prisoners affiliated with the main opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) in 1988, and who now reside in Europe, the United States and Canada, or are in the ranks of the PMOI/MEK in Ashraf 3 in Albania, were submitted to relevant judicial authorities. It was also announced that about 900 released political prisoners in Ashraf 3 were ready to testify about the regime’s crimes in its prisons. At the same time, a number of witnesses sent written and precise testimonies, indicating dates and names, related to Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury) and his role in the torture, execution, and repression of prisoners, to the relevant parties, and attached books, articles, and reports they had written in this regard over the past 30 years. Witnesses to the massacre are also plaintiffs.
2. Despite the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which made travel very difficult or impossible, a significant number of released prisoners residing in European countries were heard in person or via video conference by judicial authorities in Sweden starting from January to December 2020. Some of them were mentioned in the statement dated July 3, 2020, and released by the NCRI Judicial Committee. Among the witnesses are PMOI/MEK supporters who survived prison, including Nasrollah Marandi, Reza Shemirani, Ali Zolfaghari, Mehrdad Kavousi, Akbar Bandali, Ramezan Fathi, Ahmad Ebrahimi, Mohsen Zadshir, Reza Fallah, Mohammad Khodabandeh Loui, and Hamid Khalaghdoost.
3. In July 2020, the Albanian prosecutor’s office informed legal advisers at Ashraf 3 that the Swedish prosecutor’s office intended to interview witnesses to the massacre or those whose loved ones had been executed, and again requested the list of victims. Subsequently, interviews started on November 7 and continued for 10 days. Some PMOI/MEK witnesses and plaintiffs, whose names are given below, were heard on two occasions because of the significance of their information. A number of other witnesses who spent time in Gohardasht Prison during the massacre and had witnessed the crimes of Hamid Noury, including Mojtaba Akhgar, Azad Ali Hajiloui, Haidar Yousefli, and Mohammad Sarkhili, submitted written testimonies.
4. Asghar Mehdizadeh, a political prisoner who was incarcerated from 1981 to 1994, testified that he saw Hamid Noury for the first time in Gohardasht Prison in 1986.
He said: “At that time, I had requested to be transferred to Rasht Prison. Hamid Noury told me that there would be no transfer until you cooperate because right now you admit to the charge that you are a supporter of the organization (PMOI/MEK) and you insist on that position.”
“As punishment for conducting physical workouts as a group, on two occasions, we were taken to a room called the “gas chamber,” which had no openings. After an hour or two, we would sweat so excessively that our feet would get wet and there would be puddles of water under our feet. They opened the door after our protests and screams and continuous pounding on the door. Then, the henchmen would line up on two sides (forming a “tunnel”). Nasserian, Abbasi (Hamid Noury), and Lashkari were standing closest. They asked us about our charges. As soon as we said we are supporters of the PMOI/MEK, they would punch us, and beat us with cables and sticks while they pushed us to the next guards or henchmen. Also, because of performing group sports, in April 1987, twelve PMOI supporters were taken to Evin for a retrial and sentenced to flogging and being beaten by cables. Their sentence was carried out in Gohardasht by Nasserian, Lashkari, Abbasi (Hamid Noury), and other torturers.”
“In the spring of 1988, Nasserian and Abbasi (Hamid Noury) came to us and said that anyone who refers to his charge as being “Mojahed” (PMOI/MEK) must wait until we determine his fate.
On July 30, at 12:20, I saw through a small window that Lashkari and Abbasi (Hamid Noury) blindfolded the prisoners and took them to the entrance of the yard, and then into a shed. I later found out they had been taken to be executed.”
“On the morning of August 1, Abbasi (Hamid Noury) came and opened the cells’ doors and told everyone to blindfold and come to the middle of the corridor. Then he lined us up and brought us to the main corridor, where Davood Lashkari was sitting behind a small table, questioning people. The main question was about the charge. Anyone who said that he was a “supporter” or was “supporting the PMOI/MEK” was handed over to Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury) who would take him to the death corridor. On this day, there was a commotion in the corridor, and the crowd size was increasing by the hour. On that day, 15 groups of people were executed, groups composed of 10 or 15 individuals. On Monday, August 8, I was sent to Ward 7, which on one side overlooked solitary confinement. I communicated with the first cell and realized it was Hadi Mohammadnejad (martyred). He said that they took him to the death hall today and asked him to cooperate and gather intelligence. “Because I did not accept, they will take me to be executed tomorrow,” he added. He was the fifth member of his family to be executed. I was taken to the corridor of death on Tuesday, which was full of blindfolded prisoners. After a few minutes, the guard said “get sweetie pies.” I later found out that he was referring to people on death row. When 12 people were selected and went in front of the door, a number of others rushed to pass in front of them and chanted the slogan of “Oh Hossein! Long live freedom! Hail to Rajavi and death to Khomeini!” A guard said, “Why the hell are you rushing to be executed ahead of others?” One of the prisoners at the back responded loudly: “You will not understand until you are in our position and you never will be.” Then they took another two or three groups for execution. It was during the fourth round when a guard came and picked me up and took me inside the death hall. I saw from underneath the blindfold that close to the stage was almost full of corpses. When they brought the fourth series, the prisoners chanted “death to Khomeini, hail to Rajavi, long live freedom.” The guard removed my blindfold. The guards were speechless and frozen as they watched these scenes and heard the slogans of the prisoners. Nasserian interrupted and told the guards: “Why are you standing silently? These are evil people.” Nasserian, Abbasi (Hamid Noury), and Lashkari went to the prisoners and knocked off the stool from under their feet (hanging them). But before reaching the fourth person, the prisoners began kicking the stools away themselves after chanting the slogans of hail to Mojahed, hail to Rajavi, and death to Khomeini. They knocked off the stools themselves from under their feet. I could not tolerate it and faint. After a while, a guard poured water on my face and I regained consciousness and they took me to the previous location.
“After the executions, Nasserian came to ward 13 along with Abbasi (Hamid Noury) and took everyone to the Hosseiniyeh, where they threatened us not to think that the executions were over. They said whoever starts a group would go back to the gallows. We know everything. We have moles among you …”
5. Mahmoud Royaei, who was incarcerated in Evin, Ghezel Hesar, and Gohadasht prisons from 1981 to 1991, said in his testimony:
“My trial was held by an angry cleric for less than ten minutes without a lawyer and legal formalities. He read the indictment, but as soon as I wanted to defend myself, he said don’t talk, are you ready for a TV interview or not? I said I did nothing and I have nothing to say. When he saw that I did not accept the interview, he threw me out of the room and said that my sentence was execution. After my father’s tireless efforts and him spending a lot of money, three months later I was sentenced to ten years in prison.”
“I was transferred from Evin to Ghezel Hesar in December 1981. Upon arrival, they shaved my hair and eyebrows and forced me to eat the hair while beating and threatening me. Then, they put me in a cell measuring 1.5×2.5 meters, together with 45 other people.”
“On April 6, 1986, we were transferred from Ghezel Hesar to Ward 2 of Gohardasht. The harassment started from the very beginning. We also protested by not accepting food or going to get fresh air. I saw Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury) with Nasserian for the first time in ward 2 of Gohardasht prison.”
“On July 3, 1987, Davood Lashkari entered the prison and said: “I will open the yard for fresh air but anyone who goes out to exercise, we will break his ribs and feet and hands. They opened the yard and we started exercising. At the end of the exercise, the Revolutionary Guards wrote our names and called us out one by one. The guards made two opposing lines (forming a “tunnel”), and they beat us using various tools such as sticks, iron bars, and cable as we passed us through this human tunnel. Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury)’s voice was also well heard among the Revolutionary Guards. After crossing this tunnel, and after sweating from exercising, they made us go in front of a very large air conditioner and took us a room that had no vents or fresh air. We named this place the gas chamber because there was no fresh air whatsoever.”
“On Wednesday, August 3, 1988, I saw Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury) several times in the corridor of death. About 40 people from different wards were brought to the corridor. Half an hour after entering the corridor, I saw Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury) read a list of about 15 names and they passed them through a wooden door in the middle of the corridor. After that, Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury) read the names of the prisoners two more times and directed them to the same direction. I did not know at the time that they were being executed.”
“On the same day, I and another person were transferred to Room No. 4, Ward 2. There I saw the martyred Mojahed Siamak Toobaei who said that all the prisoners were killed. On July 30, a sister in a solitary cell near the ward informed Siamak by Morse code that the prisoners were being taken to a delegation and then executed. On July 31, in another ward, they had heard ambulances going back and forth and moving bodies.”
“In the last days of September, Nasserian and Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury) came to the ward and Nasserian threatened us saying, ‘Do not think that the executions are over …'”
Mahmoud Royaei told the Swedish prosecutor’s office representative that the release of the audio file of Nasserian and Razini by the National Council of Resistance of Iran on November 15, 2019, left no doubt that the person arrested in Sweden was Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury), one of the perpetrators of the massacre. For the record, Royaei presented a copy of his five-volume book, named “Aftabkaran,” detailing torture, execution, and massacre.
Regarding the situation of the families of the martyrs of the massacre and the circumstances of some of them at the time, he said: “After I was released, we went to the house of the slain Mojahed Hamid Lajevardi with the PMOI/MEK member Azad Ali Hajiloui. Hamid’s mother called Hamid’s children and said, “Come! your uncles are here.” The children took me and Azad Ali to their grandfather’s room. As soon as I greeted him, the father looked at me and said, “Hamid, why did they kill you?” The mother said this was not Hamid, he is Mahmoud, Hamid’s friend. But the father did not give up. He asked repeatedly, “Why did they kill you? Did you climb the wall of a house that doesn’t belong to you? Did you steal? Didn’t everyone in your neighborhood like you? Why did they kill you? ….”
6. Hossein Farsi, who was in prison from 1981 to 1993, explained in detail his account of being beaten and wounded by Hamid Noury, as well as the events in the death corridor. He said:
“I was transferred from Evin to Gohardasht in February 1988 along with 180 to 190 other prisoners. Upon arriving, the guards had formed a human “tunnel,” and as we passed through it, they started beating us with cables, sticks, and iron rods. It was very cold when we were taken into the ward. They forced us to take off our clothes and then they started beating us again with cables, whips, sticks, fists, and kicks, injuring everyone in the process. Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury) was also present and beat everyone with a cable. A few days later, we were taken to the office of Davood Lashkari, the deputy director of the prison. He asked about our charge and when we said a supporter of the Mojahedin, they started beating us intensely asking us to take back our words and instead use the term “Monafeqin” (the regime’s derogatory word for the Mojahedin or PMOI/MEK). We were beaten for praying in congregation and some were taken to solitary confinement. Nasserian, the director of the prison, Lashkari, the deputy director of the prison, a guard named Bayat, the head of the prison clinic, and Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury), Nasserian’s office director, were there. Among the ward guards were Faraj, Tabrizi, and Shirazi.”
“On July 30, 1988, at 7:00 AM, we were taken to a courtroom. I was sitting on the ground there. I had scrubbed my blindfold to make it a bit thinner so I could see the environment and people from under it. I saw two guards with Uzi guns sitting outside the courtroom’s door. I realized that the situation was unusual because it was forbidden to bring weapons into the prison.”
“On Friday, August 12, Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury) called the names of about 20 people and took them to be executed. Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury) laughed and said: “Come, it’s the Ashura of the Mojahedin, the non-stop Ashura of the Mojahedin …”.
“On August 13, at 9 PM, Nasserian read the names of another group of prisoners, and Abbasi (Hamid Noury) took them to be executed.”
Hossein Farsi recalled in his remarks: “My brother Hassan Farsi was executed in Evin on July 29 (1988). I myself was injured during the terrorist explosion of the regime at Habib base in Iraq in November 1999 and had lost one of my eyes. In July 2009 we were attacked by mercenaries of the Quds Force in Ashraf (Iraq), and I was taken hostage along with 35 other people. We went on a hunger strike for 72 days and almost died. But none of this was more difficult than the moment I realized that many of my friends had been executed and I was still alive …”
7. Mohammad Zand, who was in prison from 1981 to 1992 and was severely wounded in the rocket attack on Liberty on October 29, 2015, which resulted in the martyrdom of 24 PMOI/MEK members, first explained that he had to leave the interview frequently for a few minutes and he did not want this to be misunderstood.
In his testimony, he described in detail the grounds for the massacre and explained that the prisoners had for a long time been divided into three categories: white, yellow, and red. In late 1987, they had transferred prisoners with life sentences to Evin. They had said in various ways that the regime would soon determine the fate of everyone. Mohammad Zand said:
“I was first interrogated in Evin and then transferred to Ghezel Hesar. After two years, I was transferred back to Evin to be interrogated again and tortured. I was in Evin from November 1983 to June 1985 and then transferred to Gohardasht …”
“On Thursday, July 28, 1988, we went on a hunger strike because they banned newspapers. We protested in front of the ward. As a result, I and 10 other prisoners were taken out and severely beaten. They broke ne of my ribs and one of my toes. Then they sent us back to the ward.”
“On the morning of Saturday, July 29, a guard opened the ward door and said that the names I call must come out quickly. He read the names of 11 people, but instead of me, he read the name of my brother (Reza Zand), which I think was only because of the similarity of the names. I always regret it and wished they had read my name. Reza told me he did not think we would see each other again!”
“On August 3 or 4, we learned from Dariush Hanifeh Pourziba through Morse code that the massacre of prisoners had begun. Dariush himself was executed during that period. I later learned that Reza and the others had been executed on the same day. All of them had declared their charges as being Mojaheds. The crux of the matter was around the (political) identity of the people, the word Mojahed. Mr. Montazeri, Khomeini’s then-designated successor, said that Ahmad Khomeini had said that even those who read their (PMOI’s) newspaper should be executed. Anyone emphasizing on this (political affiliation or) identity must be executed.”
“On August 6, in the corridor of death, Davood Lashkari read the names of several people and they were taken to Hosseiniyeh, where the executions took place. Lashkari then returned with Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury) while Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury) carried a bunch of blindfolds, possibly belonging to prisoners who had been executed. After a while, Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury) read a new list, and Nasser Mansouri, who had a broken back and was on a stretcher, was among the same group that was taken to the place of executions.”
“On August 9 and 13, in the corridor of death, I heard the voice of Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury) reading the list of those to be executed. On August 14 or 15, Nasserian and Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury) suddenly opened my cell door and said, ‘If you provide the names of your friends that have organized in the prison, you will survive, and if not, we will execute you.’ I said I did not know anyone. At this time, a guard or Nasserian himself gave me a few sheets of white paper and a pen and left. From that day forward, four or five guards would enter my cell during all three meals and beat me, then leave. It lasted for about two weeks and then they gave up, and of course, I did not write anything.”
“In November 1988, my father was summoned to Evin Prison and was told to give Reza’s ID card so that they could give his son’s grave number. My father said I have the ID but I would not give it. He was threatened not to hold any ceremony, which my father did not accept. My father was kept in prison for 2-3 days and he was given a mock execution to intimidate him. In response, my father said that if you execute me, I will go to my son so I am not afraid of execution. My father was released after the mock execution, and he also went and held a ceremony for Reza …”.
“In late 1368 (almost February/March 1989) or early 1369 (March/April 1990), my brother and sister-in-law got an in-person meeting, which took place at Nasserian’s office in Evin Prison. There, Nasserian, while Abbasi (Hamid Noury) was sitting next to him, told my brother that if he did not agree to reveal the organization in the prison, we would execute him. They wanted to use my brother and his wife to put pressure on me.”
“A Mojahed called Mojtaba Akhgar told me that Nasserian and Abbasi (Hamid Noury) tortured him and killed Javad Taghavi, after the executions. Nasserian had told them that because they lied to the death commission, they were sentenced to lashes. The first was Javad Taghavi who was sentenced to 160 lashes. Nasserian inflicted 50-60 heavy blows to Javad at which time he was called away. Nasserian gave the cable to Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury) who continued the lashes. Blood had splashed everywhere until all 160 lashes were finished. Then it was Mojtaba Akhgar’s turn. Nasserian inflicted 100 lashes to Mojtaba Akhgar in the presence of Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury).”
“Javad Taghavi applied for a furlough after the executions during which time he tried to reconnect with the PMOI/MEK but his contact turned out to be an informant. He was arrested and disappeared and we did not get any more information about him.”
8. In his testimony, Majid Saheb Jam, who had spent seventeen years in Khomeini’s and Khamenei’s prisons from 1982 to 1999, explained how his trial only took a few minutes, and he was initially sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Majid continued by explaining how the regime was preparing itself for the massacre and added: “From July 30 to August 6, 1988, we gradually realized that the conditions in prison were heated. We remember when in the first years of prison, Lajevardi used to tell us that “if one day the regime were close to being overthrown, we would throw a grenade in every prison ward or use machine guns to kill you all. Do not think that you will get out of prison alive …”.
“On August 6, 1988, the Revolutionary Guards came to our ward and called my name and several others and took us to the corridor of the former prosecutor’s office, which I later found out was referred to as the corridor of death. There, I saw that every once in a while, several prisoners, some of whom I knew and some of whom I did not know, were taken to the Hosseiniyeh. Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury) read their names, and they stood in the middle of the corridor. Their hands were on each other’s shoulders from behind and they were moving towards the end of the corridor. About an hour later, Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury) would return sometimes alone and other times along with another guard. One time, he was holding a box of sweets and was handing it out to others. He tried to give a piece of sweet to one of the prisoners sitting in the corridor, but the prisoner rejected the offer. I saw one of the worst scenes of my life that day. On a stretcher across the corridor, a prisoner named Nasser Mansouri was brought in whose spinal cord was severed. In that condition, he was taken to the death commission. He left shortly afterward and was taken to the end of the corridor with the next series of prisoners, where I later learned that everyone was going to be executed. I also witnessed a more painful scene. One of my friends, named Mohsen Mohammad Baqer, who was born disabled, was executed in the same condition. As a child, he had starred in a movie. Although I still did not know exactly what was going on, the smell of death permeated the whole space. Once, when Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury) was returning from the execution site, he mockingly pointed at us who were sitting in the corridor of death and said “the repeat of Mojahedin’s Ashura.”
“I was in the corridor of death again on August 13. It was clear that as time passed by, the regime’s rush for executions had intensified and increased. It was as if it was running out of time. Nasserian regularly ran in corridors hastily. While I was in the corridor of death on August 13, Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury) called the names of the prisoners in groups and took them to where they were executed.”
“I saw all this happening from under my blindfold. In the initial days, the blindfold blocks the prisoner’s vision, but in the days and years that follow, it becomes part of the prisoner’s uniform and is always with him, and gradually you can see from underneath. It is no longer a major obstacle to seeing things around you. I lived with a blindfold for 17 years and got used to it.”
“Gholamreza Kiakjouri was one of my friends who initially had not claimed his support (for the PMOI/MEK). But when he realized that the prisoner’s political identity and the name of the Mojahedin were at stake and the price was execution, he told the death commission that he had made a mistake and that he is a supporter of the PMOI/MEK. Nairi (of the death commission) told him that you said something else before, to which Gholamreza replied that he had made a mistake before and had torn up his confession. In the minutes that Gholamreza was waiting for the new execution line to be formed, he started to joke around with those around him and they laughed out loud. Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury) arrived and kicked Gholamreza several times. Gholamreza protested, saying, “Why are you beating me? I want to laugh.” Three years ago, in an interview with Amnesty International, I described the day and details of Gholamreza’s execution.”
“After the executions, while I was sentenced to 12 years, a new case was opened against me. The accusation was that I had contacted one of my relatives and tried to convince him to join the PMOI/MEK. In 1993, I was sentenced to death on this charge, and I waited three years for the death sentence to be carried out. This sentence was reduced to life in prison in 1996. In 1998, after 16 years of imprisonment, I was taken to court again, and with a new sentence, I was finally released in April 1999.”
9. Akbar Samadi was incarcerated in different prisons from 1981 to 1991. In 1986, he was transferred to Gohardasht prison as punishment for clashing with the Revolutionary Guards at Ghezel Hesar.
He said in his testimony: “On July 30, 1988, while in solitary confinement, we were taken to the corridor of death along with several others. When Davood Lashkari saw us, he started questioning the guards why they had brought us there without his knowledge. The guards took us back to Ward 3, where we had been before. There, Hassan Ashrafian took me to the TV room and said that Davood Lashkari and some guards took a bunch of ropes to the shed and after a while, they took the prisoners of the city of Mashhad there. Then an ambulance left the scene. It seemed that those prisoners were executed. A group of PMOI/MEK prisoners had been transferred from Mashhad to Evin prison long before and then to Gohardasht in December 1987. All of them were hanged on July 30, 1988.”
“On August 1, 1988, Davood Lashkari came to our ward. He asked all those with sentences of 10 years and more to go out of the ward. I protested and told him it has only been two days since we have been transferred from solitary confinement; what is going on? Davood Lashkari said: It is not my order; everyone should come. Iraj Mesdaghi and I, who was sitting to my right, began to get up. But Davood Lashkari pointed to Iraj Mesdaghi: You do not need to come, sit down. Before that, too, Davood Lashkari had tried to protect Iraj Mesdaghi. Then we, who were 60 individuals in total, were divided into two groups of 30 and sent to a lower subdivision”.
“On August 3, 1988, they took us to the corridor of death. It was 3:30. One of the prisoners who happened to be my ex-cellmate was sitting next to me. He had heard about the news. He told me that the regime had formed a Death Commission and is lying when it calls it an Amnesty Commission. All the prisoners are being executed. They started the executions on the fifth day of the month in Evin and here, from the eighth day of the month. The prisoners are given three forms: a power of attorney, a will and a letter to the family.
“Martyred Mojahed Mohammad Reza Shahir Eftekhari, who was sitting across from me, said: “The revolution needs sacrifice, and we must sacrifice our blood for it.” Martyred Mojahed Behzad Fat’h Zanjani, who was also present, said: “Every revolution has had someone carrying its weight. This time that weight is on our shoulders.” These two heroes were hanged on that day … This kind of attitude drove Nasserian, the Revolutionary Guards, and the Sharia judge crazy. They were overwhelmed by the courage and bravery of such prisoners. They were in such a hurry (to execute) that day that Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury) mistakenly executed a person who was not on their list.”
“On August 6, 1988, Nasserian brought all the staff at Gohardasht prison to the death hall and ensured no one was left out, including the maintenance workers, the medical staff, and kitchen staff. In fact, he brought everyone to the corridor of death to get them involved in the massacre of the PMOI/MEK. They wanted to make sure that everyone plays a role in the crime in order to ensure loyalty and secrecy. This was the same method utilized in 1981 to prove loyalty to Khomeini.
“In 1981, I saw Behzad Nabavi, Minister of Industry, Sarhadizadeh, Minister of Labor, and Ahmad Tavakoli in Evin prison. They were brought there to participate in the shooting squad. Regime’s ministers were also involved in the executions.
“On August 6, 1988, Abdolreza Akbari Monfared was also executed. He was a classmate of mine and a teenager. He was arrested before June 20, 1981. He was sentenced to one year initially but was held until 1988 and executed on August 6.
“Several times, when we did group sports, about 50 guards stood on both sides with hydro cables and formed a human “tunnel.” As we passed through it, they beat us with the cables and then took us to a room that had no vents. We called it the gas chamber. We felt suffocated and fell to the ground. We were sweating so much that our perspiration was creating puddles on the floor of the room. Abbasi (Hamid Noury) was one of those notorious guards who controlled and directed the repression and torture of prisoners.”
10. Hassan Ashrafian first explained how he was arrested in 1982 and sentenced to 12 years in prison.
He was transferred from Ghezel Hesar to Gohardasht prison in 1986. In his testimony, he said: “I saw Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury) for the first time in Hall 18 of Ward 2 in Gohardasht Prison along with Nasserian. Since early 1987, prisoners were classified and relocated in preparation for the massacre. During this period, various forms were placed inside each ward every few days, and the prisoners were asked to fill in the forms and hand them over to the prison guard (this form was to identify the prisoners). From the end of May of 1988, newspapers and visits were banned They also took away the only TV that was in the ward. On July 30, looking through a window in a large room where the prisoners’ bags and belongings were kept (we called it the bag room and the regime called it the Hosseiniyeh, and it was located at the end of ward 3, Hall 19), we saw 5-6 prison guards walking with Davood Lashkari, along with two Afghan prisoners in prison uniforms and carrying two wheelbarrows containing thick ropes. They went to a shed where we later learned that the executions took place on July 30 and 31. Two days later, we saw two trucks through the same window, one of which was carrying the bodies of the executed prisoners. I saw this scene from above and at a maximum distance of 15 meters. After a few minutes, the truck moved to the prison exit door. Another truck moved to the execution site to transport the bodies of the other martyrs.
“In January 1989, we were among the prisoners in the lower part of Gohardasht prison. Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury) came to our ward along with several guards. The prisoners began to complain about the lack of basic necessities in prison. After this protest, when he saw that we had a clean and orderly living space, he said, “Go and thank God that if we wanted to fully implement the Imam’s (Khomeini) fatwa (religious decree), we would have executed half of the Iranian people. We should have executed anyone who read the PMOI/MEK newspaper.”
11. Bahman Janat Sadeghi, who was arrested on November 1, 1980, while selling the Mojahedin newspaper in Tehran and taken to Evin prison, said in his testimony:
“I was sentenced to six months in prison in early May 1981. The prosecutor was Lajevardi, and the Sharia judge was Razini. By this time, my six-month prison sentence was over, and they had to release me. Note that in May 1981, the PMOI/MEK was not involved in the armed struggle, and my crime was to only distribute the PMOI/MEK weekly publication. On the day I was to be released, Lajevardi said, “Pledge not to engage in political activity, and we will release you.” But I did not make that commitment, and I was kept in prison for another six years until the night of Persian New Year celebrations in 1987. Lajevardi came to Gohardasht in December 1984 before leaving the prosecutor’s office. He asked me, “Are you going to do an interview?” I demanded to know why he had kept me in solitary confinement for 30 months? He started swearing at me and said that even if it takes 500 years, he will break me down and will make me kneel down … “.
“I first heard the name Abbasi (Hamid Noury) in Gohardasht prison in the attack on the women’s ward in early November 1983. In the evening, a group of female PMOI/MEK supporters, who had been arrested prior to June 20, were attacked. We, who were near their ward, could hear their screams for 3 hours. After three days, I was able to talk to one of the female prisoners, Mahtab, via Morse code. She said the guards were so brutal and shameless that after the attack two female prisoners hung themselves in the cell with their chadors (veils). He said: Based on what we know so far, Morteza Salehi, known as Sobhi, the head of the prison, Majid Halvai, Mostafa Kashani, Majid Qoddusi, and Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury), and a torturer named Fatemeh Jabbari were among the attackers.
“By the end of March 1983, I was transferred from solitary confinement to a public ward with several other PMOI/MEK prisoners. They gathered us next to the main ward. One of the most ruthless torturers referred to as “Fakoor,” the head of Branch seven of Evin prison, also known as Akbar Jojeh Kababi, whose real name was Ali Akbar Arani, was standing in front of the door. He introduced Abbasi (Hamid Noury), who was with him, and said that Abbasi (Hamid Noury) is more “Fakoor” (more brutal) than me if you insist on your political affiliation. Abbasi (Hamid Noury) was present at many visits and harassed families. On one occasion, when my mother came to visit, I spoke to her in my native tongue. Abbasi (Hamid Noury) ordered me to speak Farsi. I said my mother does not know Farsi well. He insulted and punched me in the face. My mother fainted and fell to the ground on the other side of the glass. Many prisoners have seen Abbasi (Hamid Noury) alongside the interrogator trying to make prisoners repent.”
“I was hospitalized at the Evin prison medical clinic in March 1985. Four tortured prisoners were brought next to my room, and I learned from the medical staff that they were in critical condition. Abbasi (Hamid Noury) was also present, and although the prisoners were in critical condition, he kept torturing and harassing them. He then came to me and said: I’ll make you feel like they’re feeling right now.
“We went on a hunger strike in early October 1986 in Ward 3 of Evin training center. On the fourth night, a squad led by Majid Halvai and Ghadirian and Meysam, the prison head, as well as Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury) and several others, attacked us with cables and heavy clubs. They demanded that we either will end the strike or that the guards will kill us with the cables. Due to my physical weakness, one of my ribs was broken and I fell unconscious. Before that, I saw Abbasi (Hamid Noury) beating the prisoners in the head and body with cables and clubs.
“The last time I saw Abbasi (Hamid Noury) was on March 14, 1989, a week before my release, in the fingerprints section of the prosecutor’s office at Evin prison. I was taken to Branch 13 to take photos and fingerprints. Abbasi (Hamid Noury) said, ‘Do not think that I have forgotten about you. At the moment, someone else has ordered your release. We will not leave any of you people who are remaining steadfast on your positions alive.”
12. Gholamreza Jalal spent time in various prisons from December 1980 to 1986.
In his testimony, he explained how dozens of the prisoners who were in prison with him were arrested in 1980. They were arrested only for selling or distributing the PMOI/MEK publications. They were either not sentenced at all or had received one or two-year prison sentences. They were not released and eventually were among those who were executed in 1988. He presented a list of these martyrs to the prosecutor’s representative. He explained in detail that the massacre of the summer of 1988 had been planned a long time prior and that prisoners had been screened and filtered over time.
Gholamreza Jalal also testified in detail about the fate of the prisoners arrested in 1980 and provided a list of their names.
In response to Gholamreza Jalal’s question as to why his request for an interview had been delayed about a year, it was said that the coronavirus pandemic disrupted and slowed down all planning, and that the delay was only due to the pandemic. He also received assurances about his concerns regarding any potential leaking of information. He was told: We understand your concerns and take them seriously. Until the end of the investigation of this case, the information of the plaintiffs and witnesses and anyone involved in this case for any reason will be kept confidential.
13. Hossein Seyyed Ahmadi, four of whose family members were killed by the mullahs’ regime, said in his testimony:
“My brother Mohsen Seyyed Ahmadi, 30, was arrested on November 29, 1980, along with seven other PMOI/MEK supporters for selling the PMOI/MEK weekly publication in Tehran and was sentenced to one year in prison. But he was never released and 8 years later, on July 30, 1988, he was executed among one of the first groups of prisoners in Gohardasht. Prisoners who, like Mohsen, were arrested in 1980 were referred to as “’80s.” There were at least 100 people in this group who were all executed except one or two.
“My other brother, Mohammad Seyyed Ahmadi, 25, was arrested in February 1985 and was never sentenced. In August 1988, he was among one of the first groups to be executed in Evin.
“In November 1988, my mother was informed to go to Evin and was given two bags with Mohsen’s and Mohammad’s belongings, which contained several pieces of clothing that, of course, did not belong to my brothers. The executions were so extensive that it was not even possible to separate the prisoners’ belongings. It was not just our family that received the wrong belongings; it happened to a lot of prisoners.
Hossein Seyyed Ahmadi added: “My eldest brother Ali Seyyed Ahmadi, who had spent three years in the Shah’s prisons, was also killed on September 1, 2013 during the Ashraf massacre along with 51 other PMOI/MEK members. Regime mercenaries shot Ali, who was wounded and being treated at Ashraf Clinic. Martyr Fatemeh Abolhassani, Ali’s wife, was slain in 1982 in an attack by the Revolutionary Guards on their residence in Tehran. His young son was taken to Evin Prison after his mother was killed. He was there for four years and was diagnosed with rickets. He was then sent to an orphanage.”
14. Seyyed Jafar Mir Mohammadi, whose brother and 5 other relatives were martyred by the mullahs’ regime, said in his testimony:
“My brother Aqil Mir Mohammadi was arrested on March 1, 1982, for supporting the PMOI/MEK. He was executed during the massacre of political prisoners in the summer of 1988. In November of that year, they handed over some of his personal belongings, including a broken wristwatch, to my parents, adding that we have executed your son on Khomeini’s orders. He had been sentenced to 10 years in prison, of which he had already spent 7 years. In February 1988, after separating and classifying the prisoners, he and some of his friends were transferred to Gohardasht prison in Karaj. Upon arrival, in Hall 19, while it was very cold, their clothes were removed and they were badly beaten using wooden sticks and cables. A few days later, they were sent to ancillary buildings nos. 13 and 16.
“According to the testimonies of released prisoners who were imprisoned with Aqil, between August 6 and 8, 1988, he and a number of PMOI/MEK supporters were taken to the Death Commission by Nasserian and his deputy, Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury), and then to the death hall for execution. The person who called out the names of prisoners on death row and sent them for execution was Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury). According to witnesses, they were a group of at least 25 people who were executed together.
“Martyr Mojahed Karimollah Moghimi and his brother Kia Moghimi, who were executed during the massacre of 1988, were my paternal relatives. PMOI/MEK martyrs Roya Rahimi, 16, and her friend Fatemeh Noghreh Khaja, were shot in the streets of Ghaemshahr by the Revolutionary Guards in May 1981 while distributing the PMOI’s weekly publication. Hossein Ali Hajian, who was arrested in Tehran in November 1982 and tortured to death, and Yar Ali Hajian, who was shot by the Komiteh’s patrols Tehran, were brothers and my maternal relatives.”
15. Ms. Mahnaz Meymanat, whose mother, husband, and two brothers were martyred and whose third brother disappeared after spending 4 years in prison, testified about the execution of her brother Mahmoud Meymanat during the 1988 massacre.
She said: “Before Mahmoud, my younger brother Massoud Meymanat, who was a student, was arrested at the age of 17 and executed in 1982 after enduring extensive torture. Mahmoud was studying architecture at the National University and a well-known and popular figure among other students. He was arrested in 1982 and released in 1986 when his sentence was completed. But shortly after, perhaps a month or two after, he was arrested again and executed during the 1988 massacre. I have heard the accounts from my father, my younger brother and his cellmates. My father was a judge who resigned after the regime took power and became a lawyer.”
“My father said that he had not heard of the execution of my brother Mahmoud during the massacre until September 1988. I called him to get some news. He said prison conditions were chaotic and families said their children were being killed. After this call, my father followed up on Mahmoud’s situation through Ishraqi, who was also a lawyer and knew my father. He also mentioned Nayyeri and finally, a Revolutionary Guard named Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury), who was involved in the executions. Finally, in October 1988, after a long quest, my father was informed that his son had been executed, but we never learned of his burial place. They only gave my father a small bag and a few articles of clothing claiming that they belonged to Mahmoud.”
“In 2009, my father and younger brother Manouchehr came to France with great difficulty and had a private family visit with me. Shortly after their return to Iran, my brother was arrested and spent several months in solitary confinement in Ward 209 of Evin Prison. He was then transferred to Ward 350. Judge Moghiseh then sentenced him to four years in prison, exile in Borazjan, and 74 lashes for having contacted me. I heard at that time that my brother was protesting against the dire conditions of the prison. In October 2013, we were told that he had been released, but to this day I have no news of him. My father was also unaware until his own death. In reality, I do not know whether he was killed or harmed so that he would not contact me at all …”
16. Ms. Mehri Hajinejad, a political prisoner from 1981 to 1986, was another witness whose three brothers and her husband were martyred. Her fourth brother, Assad Hajinejad, was prevented from leaving the country in 1983 to get treatment for his cancer due to his support for the PMOI/MEK and died as a result in 1986.
She said in her testimony: “I was arrested in August 1981 and I was in Evin until June 1985 and then I was transferred to Gohardasht and I was there for about a month. In July 1985, I was transferred to Ghezel Hesar. I was transferred to Evin again in April 1986 and released in May 1986. My brother Ahad was killed in February 1981 in Tajrish during a confrontation with the Revolutionary Guards. My other brother Samad was arrested in August 1982 and tortured to death. My third brother, Ali, was hanged in August 1988 during the massacre in Gohardasht.
“Ali was arrested in November 1981. He was initially in Evin and then transferred to Ghezel Hesar. He disappeared from the beginning of 1984 until December 1984, when my mother found him in Gohardasht prison. But during that time, wherever my mother went, they said there was no such prisoner at all. When my mother found him in Gohardasht, it turned out that he had been tortured in IRGC safe houses in Karaj. Ali told my mother during his last visit in the early spring of 1988 that the situation in the prison was ambiguous and suspicious. They were moving prisoners, separating a number of prisoners. It was not clear what they wanted to do. We might not meet again, he had said.
“After my release from prison, I went to see Ali twice using my sister’s ID card because they would not give me permission to visit. In the meeting with Ali, I took a short opportunity and insisted that he show me his foot, and I saw with my own eyes that after a long time, there are still signs of torture and flogging. He also always had extreme headaches due to the severe blows to his head. The meeting with my brother was interrupted in the spring of 1988. In the summer, my mother learned through other mothers that they were executing their children. Every day she went to Evin or Gohardasht to find a trace of my brother Ali. In late September or early October, they told my mother to leave because they will give her more information in 40 days …
“40 days passed and before my mother left, a guard came to my mother’s house and told her not to go to Gohardasht tomorrow, and that a man from her family should go. My mother said, ‘You have killed my children. I have no one. I will go myself.’ My mother went to Gohardasht with our neighbor. Three guards were sitting there and said that your son was an enemy of the Islamic Republic and we killed him. My mother said that he is now freed from the regime’s torture and asked them, ‘Did you not fear God for killing our children? What did they do?’ The guards asked if she had another son. My mother said I don’t, but I wish I had another one so he could fight against you. The guards then handed my mother an old sack of rice that contained my brother’s belongings. A set of clothes with a watch and glasses and a hanging rope. My mother fainted after seeing it and our neighbor took the sack from her. But the guards did not stop and when my mother opened her eyes, they warned her not to have a memorial! My mother was so aroused that she said I would not mourn for him, I would celebrate him. The guards said you are also a Monafeq (literally ‘hypocrite,’ a derogatory term the regime uses to refer to the PMOI/MEK). They told her, if you get out of line, we will destroy your house on your head using a loader.
“Released prisoners told my mother that Ali had been executed on July 30 or 31 in Gohardasht. They told my mother that Nasserian, Abbasi (Hamid Noury), and Lashkari were taking prisoners to the death hall.”
“My mother came to Iraq secretly three times and brought some photos and belongings such as glasses, watches, and the names of the martyrs of the massacre, which are in the Martyrs’ Museum. She always mentioned Nasserian, Davood Lashkari, Bayat, Javad Shesh Angoshti, and Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury) as her son’s killers. She said that many prisoners who were released after the massacre, such as Siamak Toobaei, Hamid Mousavi, and his wife Sima, Javad Taghavi, and Tayyebeh Hayati, disappeared.”
Ms. Mehri Hajinejad provided the Swedish prosecutor’s office with a collection of documents related to the regime’s crimes committed in prisons and the role of Hamid Noury (Abbasi) through the Albanian prosecutor’s office, in addition to a copy of her book “Laila’s Last Laughter (Memoirs in the Clerical Regime’s Prisons)”.
17. Ms. Khadijeh Borhani whose 6 brothers (all PMOI/MEK members) and the wife of one of her brothers were martyred by the clerical regime and the fate of whose family is a symbol of the crimes committed by this regime, testified:
“The eldest brother of the family, Mohammad Mehdi Borhani, was a political prisoner during the Shah’s reign. He was arrested in August 1982 and killed under torture in Evin Prison. He was 27 years old at the time of his martyrdom. Mohammad Ali Borhani, 24, was executed in Qazvin in September 1981. His body was handed over to his father on condition that no funeral would be held, but many people attended his funeral. Two other brothers, Ahmad Borhani, 27, and Mohammad Hossein Borhani, 25, were executed in the massacre of political prisoners in August 1988, in Evin and Gohardasht respectively.
“Martyred PMOI/MEK member Minoo Mohammadi, the wife of Mohammad Mehdi Borhani, was executed during the massacre of political prisoners in Qazvin.
“Also, Mohammad Mofid Borhani was martyred in Operation Eternal Light and Mohammad Hassan Borhani was martyred in Operation Chelcheragh.”
Ms. Khadijeh Borhani, the only surviving member of the family, was arrested in 1981 at the age of 12 and was released on a significant bail by her father eight months later. The father of this family, Mr. Seyyed Abolghasem Borhani, was a prominent and activist cleric who opposed Khomeini and his reactionary policies from the very beginning. For this reason, Khomeini ordered him to abandon his clerical attire.
Khadijeh Borhani explained the manner in which Mohammad Hossein was martyred in Gohardasht Prison and the role of henchman Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury), as published in the book The Massacre of Political Prisoners in 1989. She added: “After a lot of follow-ups, they only gave my parents the wristwatch of Mohammad Hossein that he had at the time of his execution.”
18. In her testimony, PMOI/MEK member Parvin Poureghbal said:
“I was arrested in 1981 when I was 15 years old. My mother was also arrested at the same time. I was tortured and faced a mock execution. … I was arrested again in 1986 when I was trying to join the Liberation Army. In a five-minute trial, Mobasheri sentenced me to five years in prison. At times, Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury) and Haddad (Zare Dehnavi) and Moghiseh and Sarlak came to the prison and asked us if we still sympathize with the PMOI/MEK. They pressured us to call them “hypocrites” instead of the Mojahedin. Abbasi (Hamid Noury) was the one who had tortured PMOI/MEK members Ashraf Fadaei and Monireh Abedini.”
PMOI/MEK member Parvin Poureghbal protested about the fact that a mercenary named Iraj Mesdaghi claims that the Swedish prosecutor’s office was interviewing the PMOI/MEK in Albania at his request. The prosecutor’s representative explained that the case was being investigated at the behest of the Swedish prosecutor’s office and the Swedish police, and that anyone else claiming to be pursuing the case would be lying.
19. In her testimony, PMOI/MEK member Dr. Khadijeh Ashtiani, who spent time in prison from May 1982 to late 1985, said:
“I have seen Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury) without blindfold several times during my family visits in Ghezel Hesar prison. In fact, he always accompanied Moghiseh and acted as his shadow.
Once my mother visited me in prison and was trying to tell me something discreetly using facial expressions. Moghiseh pulled my mother aside and pushed her into a wall and asked her what she was trying to communicate with her daughter.
“My brother, martyred PMOI/MEK member Mehdi Ashtiani, was 19 years old when he was arrested in 1984 and sentenced to 8 years in prison. I met him only once in March 1985 through the glass window and talking to him using a phone. Mehdi was taken to Gohardasht prison in 1986. In June 1988, Moghiseh, Noury (Abbasi), and the rest of the Revolutionary Guards separated more than 120 prisoners and transferred them from the Gohardasht prison to Evin prison. We immediately heard that these prisoners were taken to Evin for execution, but we did not want to believe this.
“In his last meeting before his execution, Mehdi told my mother that they had removed the TV from their room for two days, they had not given them any newspapers, and the food situation was in disarray. Some prisoners were told that since all of them were going to be executed, they should not be fed. Mehdi added: Of course, if we are going to be executed, we would welcome our fate with open arms, so tell everyone to bless and forgive me …”.
“Later, the political prisoners’ visits throughout Iran were completely stopped. But we were always present in front of Evin prison. At times, a guard would come and read several people’s names and said that they had been executed, so go and get their bags. One of them was the martyred PMOI/MEK member Massoud Moqbeli, whose father was the famous artist Ezatollah Moqbeli, who died of a stroke due to his son’s execution.
“On November 17, 1988, the Revolutionary Guards came to our house and told my mother that they had executed Mehdi and that we should go to Tehran Pars Committee and gather his belongings tomorrow. We went to the Tehran Pars Committee. My brother went inside and took Mehdi’s bag.
“In 1990, my sister Maryam and I decided to join the PMOI/MEK, but we were arrested, and I was imprisoned for one year and endured pressure and torture. My sister Maryam contacted the organization after her release and wanted to leave the country again. On October 2, 1992, she left home and never returned, and we were sure she had been arrested. We went to different prisons looking for her. In front of Evin Prison, my mother was told that Maryam had been arrested, but no matter how hard she tried, they did not let her visit her. Finally, they referred her to forensics. But we could not find her in forensics. My mother went back to prisons and asked them about my sister’s whereabouts. But they all denied everything, saying they had not arrested her. From then on, my mother searched everywhere from Saturday to Wednesday to find Maryam, but everyone claimed to be unaware of Maryam’s whereabouts. Finally, in September 1993, Abbasi (Hamid Noury) told my mother that my sister wanted to join the Mojahedin, so we killed her!”
20. The “multi-dimensional” intelligence operation carried out by the mullahs in the case of Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury) through the mercenary Iraj Mesdaghi was mentioned by several plaintiffs and witnesses.
- Asghar Mehdizadeh said in his testimony: “In 1983, I was in ward 19 of Gohardasht prison with Iraj Mesdaghi. The prison conditions started to become difficult and unbearable. One day, Iraj Mesdaghi was taken out of the ward and returned after a few hours. A table was set up by the guards and Sobhi, the person in charge of the prison. Mesdaghi sat behind the table. He started to badmouth the PMOI/MEK and said that he had committed himself to obey all prison rules. There were a few times when he was taken out of the ward only to return several hours later.
- In his testimony, Akbar Samadi said: “On August 1, 1988, Davood Lashkari came to our ward and asked all the prisoners having ten years or longer prison sentences to come forward. Iraj Mesdaghi was sitting to my right. As he got up halfway, a guard told him that he did not need to come forward and to sit down. Davood Lashkari addressed him as “sir”.”
- Mahmoud Royaei pointed out that he had not seen Iraj Mesdaghi being beaten or tortured the same way other PMOI/MEK supporters were beaten and tortured.
- Referring to Iraj Mesdaghi’s tweet on September 25, 2020, Hossein Farsi emphasized another part of the mullahs’ intelligence operation to tarnish the Justice Movement for the 1988 massacre in Iran. This agent foolishly tweeted: “At the repeated request of our main plaintiffs, the Swedish police are going to Albania to investigate.” The prosecutor’s representative said that the case and the measures it is adopting are in the hands of no one else but the Swedish judiciary.
- Mohammad Zand and Majid Sahib Jame cited the background and November 15, 2019 statement of the Security and Counter-Terrorism Commission of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, as well as the Moghiseh and Razini audiotapes, to show that while the regime agent wanted to pretend that the arrest of Hamid Abbasi (Hamid Noury) was a complete surprise, it turned out that Moghiseh already knew that Abbasi (Hamid Noury) was going to be arrested during this trip. His voice is recorded as saying that the Iranian pilot and the divorced woman had informed the Swedish court, intelligence service, and the police about Hamid Abbasi’s (Hamid Noury) visits to the country. But in the context of the scenario concocted by the Iranian regime’s Ministry of Intelligence, Mesdaghi wanted to pretend that the Abbasi (Hamid Noury) issue was completely unknown to the Swedish judiciary, intelligence, or police.
21. The testimonies of the PMOI/MEK in Ashraf 3 about the massacre of political prisoners and the role of Hamid Noury (Abbasi), which lasted ten days, are part of the observations of a number of PMOI/MEK members who either themselves or their family members witnessed or were victims of the massacre. They were political prisoners in 1988. The field of testimonies is basically limited to Gohardasht prison, and its subject Hamid Noury is just one of the thousands of murderers and torturers of this regime operating over the last 42 years.
These testimonies are mostly related to Gohardasht prison and in part the Evin prison. They are provided by those who survived the massacre in these two torture chambers. But there were many prisons all over Iran, where all the prisoners were massacred and not a single person survived to tell about the brutality of the regime. If we consider the dimensions of what happened in all prisons in those months, both in Tehran and throughout Iran, there is no doubt that the 1988 massacre is the greatest political crime committed since World War II. A crime whose perpetrators continue to stand at the top of the hierarchy of power in our occupied homeland.
22. There is no doubt that Hamid Noury (Abbasi) has committed crimes against humanity by every standard and that he should be held accountable. At the same time, it is certain that much more senior-ranking figures than Noury, including criminals such as Hossein Ali Nayyeri, Mostafa Pour Mohammadi, Ali Mobasheri, Gholam Hossein Ejei, Ismail Shoushtari, Morteza Eshraghi, and many other mullahs and IRGC members are also responsible for the massacre and deserve punishment. It is clear that the past and present leaders of the regime, specifically the mullahs’ supreme leader Ali Khamenei, the regime’s President Hassan Rouhani, and others, bear the brunt of responsibility for the massacre of 1988, the executions that took place after June 20, 1981, and the killing of rebellious youth during the November 2019 uprising. In fact, there is no single leader of the regime who has not been involved in the misery of the people of Iran in some shape or form or has not committed crimes against humanity.
23. There is no doubt that the regime is trying to protect its henchmen from facing justice by carrying out hostage-taking, blackmailing, and offering trade and political incentives. For 40 years, the mullahs have been committing terrorist crimes in various countries on the one hand while on the other hand, they have taken European and American citizens or dual nationals hostage in exchange for their captured terrorists and insurgents. The policy of appeasement has caused the regime to continue its criminal and shameful treatment of innocent people. Simultaneous with the trial of Assadollah Assadi, the diplomat terrorist of the mullah’s regime in Belgium, it was suddenly announced that the criminal death sentence of Dr. Ahmad Reza Jalali, which had been upheld by the mullahs’ Supreme Court three years ago, would soon be carried out. When asked about foreign nationals being held hostage in Iran, Mohammad-Javad Zarif, the foreign minister of the mullahs, has ridiculously responded that the regime’s judiciary is independent. Still, on December 4, he bluntly said: “Iran has put several proposals on the table regarding the exchange of prisoners. This exchange will be done whenever there is a possibility of an exchange. We will participate in this process. It will benefit everyone.”
24. The Judiciary Commission of the National Council of Resistance of Iran warns that Hamid Abbasi’s (Hamid Noury) escape from justice under any pretext is an act against justice and a clear sign that encourages the regime to commit more bloodshed and terrorism. This is a great test for the European Union and its member states to uphold their commitments to democratic values and universal human rights principles. Only a firm policy against religious dictatorship can end the Iranian regime’s trading of innocent human lives and blood. Displaying any flexibility or concessions toward this regime will embolden it to continue its criminal activities. The Judiciary Commission of the NCRI warns against blackmailing and any pressure or political machinations of the regime against Sweden.
25. Similar to the case of the terrorist diplomat and mercenaries in Belgium, the Iranian Resistance is doing its best to bring criminals to justice on a global scale and in European countries. But we do not doubt that Iran’s future judiciary, which will be established on the ruins of the Velayat-e Faqih (absolute clerical rule) criminal system and which will be in compliance with all legal norms and internationally recognized standards, is the only real and historical answer to these unspeakable crimes. On that day, the true dimensions of the crimes committed by the mullahs and of the oppression of the deprived people of Iran as well as their sacrifices will be revealed to the whole world and to history.
National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)
Committee on the Judiciary
15 December 2020
