The first hearing for Hamid Noury was held on Tuesday in Stockholm, Sweden. Noury, a senior prison guard in Iran’s renowned Evin and Gohardasht prisons in the 1980s, was involved in a slew of crimes against political dissidents, particularly members of the People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI / MEK Iran) and supporters. He carried out mass executions of political prisoners as part of a statewide cleansing of dissidents in Iran’s jails in 1988 as one of the officials in Gohardasht prison.

Noury also hailed and referred to Qassem Soleimani

In 2019, Noury was detained while on a vacation to Sweden. The court heard terrible testimonials from his victims and their relatives when his trial began earlier this year. Noury’s trial is offering a window into the 1988 massacre as well as the regime’s countless misdeeds.

Noury praised the regime’s criminal leaders, including supreme leader Ruhollah Khomeini, in his opening remarks. He referred to Ebrahim Raisi, nicknamed “the butcher of 1988” by Iranians, as “the popular president of the Iranian people.” Raisi was a significant figure in the 1988 massacre and served on the Death Commission, a group of officials that signed thousands of detainees’ death sentences.

Noury also hailed and referred to Qassem Soleimani, the regime’s now-dead terrorist mastermind, as a martyr. “I felt like the world broke on my head when [Soleimani] was insulted,” Noury stated, alluding to one of the witnesses calling Soleimani a criminal.

His hatred for the MEK was the polar opposite of his adoration for well-known criminals. Noury echoed the regime’s anti-MEK propaganda, which has been disseminated through official channels and foreign lobbying.

 

 

Noury also denied that the 1988 massacre occurred

“There is a group known as the People’s Mojahedin, but no one in Iran recognizes them by that name. “All Iranians call them Monafeghin,” Noury remarked, referring to the MEK as “Monafeghin.” “I apologize to the Iranian people if I called them Mojahedin in my remarks.”

Noury’s intention was to minimize his role in the 1988 massacre and deny his presence in Gohardasht jail at the time, but he eventually admitted to his role in the regime’s crimes in the 1980s.

In 1979, he volunteered to go to Kurdistan to subdue the Kurdish people, according to his own narrative. Later, he was conscripted in the Bassij, a paramilitary group tasked with suppressing dissenters.

Noury also denied that the 1988 massacre occurred, calling it a “fabricated and undocumented story” and a “ridiculous play.”

 

 

Noury argue that Gohardasht prison did not exist

It’s worth noting that such statements aren’t made by the regime’s own officials. Raisi has openly boasted about his role in the 1988 execution of political prisoners. Another member of the Death Commission and former Justice Minister, Mostafa Pourmohammadi, has admitted to his role in the 1988 massacre. Documents exist that show the dictatorship burying executed prisoners in mass graves. Thousands of eyewitness reports corroborate the murders. There’s also an audiotape of Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, Khomeini’s then-successor, criticising the Death Commission for mass executions of political detainees.

Noury even went so far as to argue that Gohardasht prison did not exist. “There is no such thing as a Gohardasht prison. “This is a historical lie that has been made up over the last three decades,” he remarked. “In Iran, if you say Gohardasht, people will laugh at you.”

Noury did reveal, however, that his supervisor was Nasserian, whose true name is Mohammad Moghiseh, a well-known judge who has been blacklisted for human rights violations.

Noury’s controversies are merely proving that he can’t defend his case at this point. However, Noury is only one of many regime officials who must be held accountable for their crimes. The true offenders in this case are the regime’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, Raisi, and other senior officials, whose involvement has been thoroughly established by the MEK and international human rights organizations.

 

 

 

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