Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s new president, and his henchmen ate pastries while witnessing political executions. The revelations come just days before Hamid Noury, a former executioner confronts a Swedish tribunal for his alleged role in the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political detainees affiliated with the opposition the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI / MEK Iran).
Noury, 60, was a deputy prosecutor in Gohardasht Prison in Karaj, west of Tehran, and oversaw executions in numerous facilities before he was detained in Sweden in 2019. As a result, he obeyed Raisi’s orders, who was then in charge of Tehran’s “death commission,” which was founded by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to execute political detainees imprisoned.
“On August 6, 1988, I was sitting in the ‘death corridor’ in Gohardasht Prison. I remember vividly that Hamid Noury came and grabbed some of my dearest friends, including Qasem Sofiyan, Ali Vasli, Ali Haghverdi, all from the MEK, and took them to be hanged,” Nassrollah Marandi added.
“I also remember how on that afternoon, Noury brought a big box of pastries and distributed them among the executioners and the officials involved in the massacre celebrating the executions.”
“The first place that he took the pastry box was the room where Ebrahim Raisi, was sitting as a member of the Death Commission and was issuing death sentences.”
“I am among many who were eyewitnesses to Noury’s crimes in the corridor of death in Gohardasht prison, where prisoners were lined up to be taken to the execution room,” said Reza Fallahi, a former political prisoner. “I can never forget those scenes and those moments and never will.”
“Noury should be sentenced according to the law, but it is more imperative than the massacre’s masterminds, people like Raisi and Khamenei, are also brought to justice.”
Both individuals are among 35 survivors who will testify in Stockholm next week.
The gruesome testimonies surfaced just days after Raisi was inaugurated as Iran’s eighth president, earning him the title “Butcher of Tehran” for his role in the massacre.
Tzipi Hotovely, Israel’s ambassador to the UK, criticized the EU for sending a senior official to the ceremony, according to the Sunday Express.
“In a shameful, puzzling, flattering, and unexpected move, the EU sent an official representative to the ceremony. How could such a thing be conceivable?” she asked.
“Khomeini’s fatwa stated that all political prisoners who remain steadfast in their support for the MEK should be executed,” said Shahin Gobadi of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which includes the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran. The MEK accounted for more than 90% of the 30,000 political prisoners massacred.
“The perpetrators have enjoyed total impunity. This impunity should come to an end. There is not an iota of legitimacy in dealing with a regime presided by a mass murderer such as Raisi.”
In June human rights organization Amnesty International published a statement condemning Raisi’s successful election.
“That Ebrahim Raisi has risen to the presidency instead of being investigated for the crimes against humanity is a grim reminder that impunity reigns supreme in Iran,” it said.
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