Iran: Disturbing Testimony at Noury’s Trial Underlines Regime’s Cruelty

Hamid Noury

The trial of Hamid Noury, an Iranian prison administrator accused of torturing inmates in the Gohardasht prison (Karaj) and taking part in the massacre of thousands of political prisoners in 1988, began its thirty-third session on Tuesday in Stockholm’s District Court.

During a trip to Sweden, Noury was arrested

During a trip to Sweden, Noury was seized by Swedish officials. Noury is currently on trial in a courtroom where many of his victims are testifying about how he and other regime officials tortured captives.

Reza Fallahi, a former political prisoner and supporter of the People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI / MEK Iran), testified in court during Tuesday’s session. Fallahi has spent 10 years in Iranian jails and is one of the survivors of the “1988 massacre,” a horrible period in the summer of 1988 when the regime executed more than 30,000 political prisoners across Iran, the majority of them were MEK members and supporters. The purge was authorized by Ruhollah Khomeini, the regime’s supreme leader, in an edict that stated categorically that anyone supporting the MEK is an enemy of God who ought to be executed.

(PMOI / MEK Iran) and (NCRI): Europe and the international community to “take steps to fulfill the Iranian people’s desire for international prosecution of Ali Khamenei and Ebrahim Raisi for genocide and crimes against humanity.”

Fallahi was imprisoned at Gohardasht

Fallahi was imprisoned at Gohardasht at the time of the massacre in 1988. According to his statement, the regime planned the killing months ahead of time. “When they took us to Gohardasht, a new period began, which culminated in the massacre in 1988,” he stated.

“They gradually took away all of our privileges and imposed more restrictions, including assemblies, group sports, and objects that we had made ourselves.” Food quality and quantity deteriorated. All televisions were removed from the wards. “It was obvious that they were working on something.”

When the Iranian regime approved the ceasefire agreement with Iraq on July 19, Fallahi noticed an article in one of the state-run media quoting a court official as saying that all detainees’ status will be reviewed soon. “He had stated that the sentences would be reduced, with some being increased and others being pardoned. “There was no mention of executions, which was alarming given that the regime had accepted [UN Security Council] Resolution 598,” Fallahi said.

(PMOI / MEK Iran) and (NCRI): The 1988 massacre did not just happen. It was rooted in a fundamental conflict between the people of Iran, demanding freedom, democracy, and economic and social development after the overthrow of the Shah.

Mehran Hoveida and Ahmad Gorji

On July 28, prison officers removed a number of inmates from the ward where Fallahi was being held. “Mehran Hoveida and Ahmad Gorji, who were among them, were brutally tortured after they returned after several hours,” Fallahi claimed. “They had beaten them with metal bars, and the mark on their backs was visible.” They were among the first to be sentenced to death, and they were hanged on July 30th, just as the massacre began.”

Fallahi emphasized that during the executions, infamous judge Mohammad Moghiseh, also known as Nasserian in prison, ensured that all prison guards were there.

Fallahi was led to the “death corridor,” where inmates lined up to meet the “death commission.” This organization was in charge of calling political prisoners and holding trials that lasted only a few minutes. Any prisoner who refused to deny their allegiance for the MEK was sentenced to death. Ebrahim Raisi, the regime’s current president, and Mostafa Pourmohammadi, the previous justice minister, were both members of the death commission.

(PMOI / MEK Iran) and (NCRI): the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners, most of whom were affiliated with the main Iranian opposition movement, the Mujahedin-e Khalq (PMOI/MEK).

The execution corridor

“I never saw any of those prisoners again,” Fallahi claimed when the prosecutor questioned what happened to the prisoners, he saw in the execution corridor. During the massacre, they were all executed. When I called a number of the relatives, they informed me that they had been informed that their loved ones had been executed. They were told not to arrange a memorial service for their loved ones.”

According to Fallahi, as the executions began, Hamid Noury and Nasserian were overjoyed and were handing sweets to jail officials. Fallahi, like other former inmates who testified in court, said he witnessed prison guards carrying hanging ropes in wheelbarrows. He also watched jail guards fighting amongst themselves while plundering the bodies of the detainees.

In the summer of 1988, the Iranian regime summarily and extra-judicially executed tens of thousands of political prisoners held in prisons across Iran. The massacre was carried out on the basis of a fatwa by the regime’s then-Supreme Leader Khomeini.
(NCRI) and (PMOI / MEK Iran): Fallahi claimed when the prosecutor questioned what happened to the prisoners, he saw them in the execution corridor.

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