Sweden tries Hamid Nouri over the massacre of political prisoners in 1988
11-August-2021
Category: executions، Freedom of Expression، Prisoners
10-August-2021
Newsgroup: Freedom of Expression – Execution – Prisoners –
Breathing in Confinement: The trial of Hamid Nouri, Assistant Prosecutor of Gohardasht Prison in the 1980s, began on Tuesday, August 19, 2021, in Stockholm, Sweden, on charges of “participating in the mass executions of political prisoners in the summer of 1988,” as well as “murder, war crimes and violations of international law”.
Hamid Nouri arrived at Stockholm Airport on a direct flight from Iran, on November 9, 2019, when he was immediately arrested.
AFP quoted Swedish judicial officials as saying: “The court on Tuesday is the first to be held for those involved in the 1988 killings.”
The indictment, which has been previously handed over to the Swedish court, states that during the massacre of political prisoners in the summer of 1988, Hamid Nouri was the assistant of deputy prosecutor Mohammad Moghiseh (Naserian), at Gohardasht prison in Karaj. According to the Swedish prosecutor, based on the testimony of witnesses, between July 30 and August 16, 1988, Hamid Nouri was involved in the execution of 4,000 prisoners. The prosecutor read out the names of pro-Mojahedin-e Khalq political prisoners as well as the political prisoners from Marxist groups (leftists) who were executed in Rajaei Shahr prison.
The prosecutor, Kristina Carleson, read out Hamid Nouri’s indictment, in which she briefly explained the situation in Iran in the 1980s as well as Ruhollah Khomeini’s Decree Ordering the Execution of the government’s dissidents.
The prosecutor said that Hamid Nouri was one of the officials at Gohardasht Prison and a member of the delegate ordering the 1988 executions. He as well, collaborated with the executions.
“We have both an opportunity but also a certain obligation to prosecute these crimes,” said the prosecutor, Kristina Carleson.
Hamid Nouri’s lawyer Daniel Marcus, denied his client’s role in the executions saying that he did not even present at Gohardasht Prison when the crimes took place.”
The prosecutor said that: “Sweden has universal jurisdiction for violations of international law, we have now an opportunity as well as an obligation to prosecute these crimes.” She added that they did about two years of research to prepare for the trial. “We believe that Hamid Nouri was involved in the execution of thousands of prisoners in 1988,” said the prosecutor Kristina Carleson.
It is the first time that one of the accused in the murder of political prisoners in 1988 is being tried in an official court.
The extension of Hamid Nouri’s detention in Sweden had international media repercussions, and Agnes Callamard the then UN Special Rapporteur on Extra-Judicial summary or arbitrary Executions, in a tweet on November 13, 2019, called it an “important first step towards justice for the 1988 massacre in Iran.” She added: “This would be the very first time that someone is charged in relation to the events that took place in 1988 in Iran, during which thousands of detainees were killed.”