Hamid Nouri; a Former Iranian Official Is on Trial in Sweden for the Killing of Thousands During the Khomeini Era

Iranian Hamid Nouri did not think that visiting his relative in Sweden would be the first steps of his trial for the killing of thousands of Iranians during the eighties of the 20th century and opening a war crimes file in which he participated.

The former Iranian official, Hamid Nouri, is undergoing a rare trial in the Swedish capital, Stockholm, for his supposed role in the mass executions of tens of thousands of dissidents; it was ordered by the former Iranian guide Ayatollah Khomeini in 1988.

The Swedish authorities announced on July 27, 2021, that the trial of Iranian Hamid Nouri will begin on August 10, 2021, and is supposed to end in mid-April 2022.

 

A Criminal of War

Hamid Nouri, 60 years-old, at that time held the position of Deputy Public Prosecutor in “Gohardasht” prison in the Iranian city of Karaj, he faces charges of war crimes and murder, under the universal jurisdiction of the Swedish judiciary on these charges.

Nouri, who is currently targeted by 30 complaints from civilian victims, witnesses and relatives of victims, this was after he was arrested in November 2019 at Stockholm Arlanda International Airport during a visit to Sweden and was placed under temporary detention.

According to the Swedish Public Prosecution Office, this purge campaign affected activists of the opposition Mujahedeen-E-Khalq (MEK) group, within a death sentence issued by Ayatollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, after the attacks carried out by the movement against the regime.

Prosecutor Christina Carlson said in the indictment: “Nuri, between July 30 and August 16, 1988, in Gohardasht Prison, and in his capacity as Deputy Public Prosecutor, deliberately killed many MEK prisoners.”

Carlson explained that “the MEK was cooperating with the Iraqi army, who was at war with Iran at that time.”

She added, “The link to the Iran-Iraq conflict is the reason why the executions of the group's members are war crimes that violate international law.” She explained that “the killing of political opponents is a war crime.”

During the same period, Nuri is suspected of participating in the execution of other prisoners based on their ideology or belief; they were considered dissidents of the Iranian theocratic state.

In a decision taken in December 2020, the Swedish government gave its consent to refer Nuri to the judiciary in this sensitive file.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran, the political wing of the MEK, said: “The executions affected 30 thousand people, but this number has not been verified by an independent source.”

The majority of human rights organizations and historians indicated that the number was between 4 and 5 thousand people.

 

Executioner of Prisoners

It was not the first time that Hamid Nouri left Iran, but he was arrested in 2019 in Sweden while visiting one of his relatives; he is now a prisoner in a solitary cell, according to the opposition website Iranwire on July 17, 2021.

The former Iranian prisoner, Iraj Masdaki, said: “In Gohardasht prison in 1988, a person named Hamid Abbasi beat and kicked a prisoner forcefully and cursed him with the vilest insults.”

After several months, the political prisoner entered Iraj Masdaki's cell, he told the latter that his tormentor, Hamid Abbasi, was Hamid Nuri himself.

He assured him that when he was busy beating the political prisoner, his ID card fell on the ground and his identity was known.

So, after the release of the prisoner, Masdaki, he revealed the true identity of Nouri and published it in his book.

The above-mentioned political prisoner is scheduled to testify against Hamid Nouri, but he is not the only political prisoner who has suffered torture at his hands.

There are many prisoners, some of whom have died, and some who have been fortunate enough to escape in spirit. They will reveal what happened to them more than 3 decades ago in the prisons of the Iranian regime.

 

The Last Kick

Masdaki confirmed that Hamid Nouri, is the assistant supervisor of Gohardasht prison, he would read the names of the prisoners to be executed, then line them up, attend the execution ceremony, and then distribute sweets and celebrate.”

He added: “He was mocking prisoners who were thrown into the corridors of death, their eyes were blindfolded, their bodies were bloodied from torture after the execution of their colleagues, and he offered them sweets to humiliate them more and more.”

The former political prisoner confirmed that Nouri had a role in releasing the prisoners and preventing their release, as the representative of the Public Prosecutor and responsible for reprimanding and disciplining prisoners, he has many powers.

He added: “Nuri, accompanied by members of the death committee, participated in the execution ceremony, they kicked the stomachs of prisoners.”

“The nooses were hung in the Hosseiniya Gohardasht or the Auditorium, they put the prisoner on the chair, then they kicked him so that he fell off the chair and suffocated,” according to Masdaki.

He stressed that “On September 12-13, 1988, the executions were public, and the curtains were removed. They were threatening us in the death hall that they would take the last kick themselves.”

 

Postman of Death 

Another testimony against Nouri, former Iranian prisoner Mehdi Aslani said: “Nouri was working that summer as a postman of death, I don't know how the prisoners of death corridors felt when they saw the picture of Nuri.”

Aslani confirmed that “On the 28th and 31st of August 1988, he met Hamid Nouri, when the latter was forcing prisoners to appear in front of the death commission.”

“I do not forget his face, and more than that I cannot forget his voice, he would take prisoners to death corridors in the basement, we all hope that he (Mr. Killer) will receive his punishment with a fair trial,” Aslani said.

Iranian dissidents launched the title of “Mr. Killer” on the members of the death and the perpetrators of the massacre in 1988.

One of them is the elected Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, as Hamid Nouri is considered an executing factor for him.

The former Iranian prisoner, Saeed Malikpour, published in June 2021 an audio recording attributed to Nouri, declaring his allegiance to the regime. Nouri ended his words with a Quranic verse that talks about the hypocrites and that pride belongs to the believers. Which he repeatedly repeated during the trial in Sweden.