Iranian former prison official criticizes “lies and accusations” in the war criminal trial in Sweden
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AFP) – A former Iranian prison official accused of passing death sentences during a purge of dissidents in 1988 on Tuesday, criticized as “lies” the accusations against him in a milestone trial in Sweden.
Hamid Noury, 60, has since August been brought before a court in Stockholm District Court for, among other things, murder, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
They date from the period between July 30 and August 16, 1988, when he is alleged to have been an assistant to the deputy prosecutor in the Gohardasht prison in Karaj, near Tehran.
Human rights groups say about 5,000 prisoners were killed across Iran, allegedly under the command of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini in retaliation for attacks carried out by the People’s Mujahedin in Iran (MEK) at the end of the 1980-88 war between Iran and Iraq.
Noury took a stand on Tuesday for the first time, when several dozen members of MEK, an exile opposition group, protested outside the courthouse in central Stockholm.
“I only have four days to answer all the lies that have been told to the Iranian people,” he told the court, wearing tanned trousers and a white polo shirt, with his white beard neatly cut.
People demonstrate outside Stockholm District Court in connection with the war criminal trial against Hamid Noury, who will be questioned in Stockholm District Court, Stockholm, 23 November 2021 (Duygu GETIREN / TT NYHETSBYRÅ / AFP)
“Everything we have heard is repetitive elements, but when you look at the details you realize that it does not hold. I will put an end to 33 years of lies and accusations,” he said in a statement to the court before the hearing, without addressing the details.
This is the first time any Iranian official has been brought to justice for purges, and Noury will have four days to testify in the case.
The prosecutor has claimed that Noury’s participation included sentencing to death, taking prisoners to the execution chamber and helping prosecutors collect the names of prisoners.
A mock-up of the prison was installed in the courtroom.
Noury has previously insisted through his lawyers that he was not present for the murders.
“He says he was not there, but we have 58 people who say he was,” Kenneth Lewis, the lawyer for the civil plaintiffs, told AFP.
The trial has already heard testimonies from several witnesses, including from members or former members of MEK.
“When I was in the death corridor … I got the chance to see him and I witnessed that when they read some people’s names, he followed them towards the death chamber,” one of them, Reza Falahi, told AFP.
Reza Falahi, a witness in the Hamid Noury trial, poses for a photo in Vallingby, near Stockholm on November 16, 2021 (Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP)
“After 45 minutes or so, for example, he came back, and over and over again the same story was repeated.”
Sweden’s principle of universal jurisdiction means that its courts can try a person on serious charges such as murder or war crimes, regardless of where the alleged crimes took place.
Attracted by a cruise
Noury was arrested at an airport in Stockholm in November 2019 after efforts by the justice fighter and former political prisoner Iraj Mesdaghi.
After compiling evidence on “several thousand pages” about Noury, Mesdaghi began to lure him to Sweden – where he has family members – with the promise of a luxury cruise.
Prosecutor Kristina Lindhoff Carleson has accused Noury of “intentionally taking the lives of a very large number of prisoners who sympathize with or belong to the People’s Mujahedin” as well as others who are considered opponents of the “theocratic Iranian state”.
The case is particularly sensitive in Iran, where activists accuse current government figures of having a role in the deaths, most notably President Ebrahim Raisi.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi Speaks in Tehran Parliament on November 16, 2021. (ATTA KENARE / AFP)
The former head of Iran’s judiciary was accused by Amnesty International 2018 of being a member of a “death commission” behind the secret executions.
Asked in 2018 and 2020, Raisi denied involvement but “praised” Khomeini’s “order” to carry out the purge.
Khomeini dog 1989.
“I want the international community to conclude that there is no way out … they must end the policy of concession with this regime,” another Witness, now living in the UK, told Ahp Ebrahimi.
