A trial that will remain in the annals: a former Iranian official, accused of being involved in mass executions of opponents ordered by Ayatollah Khomeini in 1988, is tried from Tuesday August 10 in Sweden, a first in this very sensitive file.
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Hamid Noury, 60, was arrested in November 2019 at Stockholm-Arlanda International Airport during a visit to Sweden.
He has since been in pre-trial detention.
According to the Swedish prosecution, Hamid Noury, between July 30 and August 16, 1988, "
intentionally took the lives of a very large number of prisoners sympathizing or belonging to the People's Mojahedin
" targeted by an execution order from the Ayatollah. Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, after the attacks committed by the movement against the regime at the end of the war between Iran and Iraq (1980-88).
A trial which is due to last until April 2022
His trial opened at 9.15am (7.15am GMT) in Stockholm court.
The accused, dressed in light clothes, appeared calm, with an easy smile, accompanied by his two lawyers.
Three days of hearings are scheduled this week for this extraordinary river trial which is due to last until April 2022 and during which dozens of witnesses will be called to the bar.
Several hundred people - mainly supporters of the People's Mojahedin - gathered in front of the Stockholm court before the start of the trial, urging Swedish and international justice to condemn the new Iranian president, Ebrahim Raïssi.
The accused, who at the time held the post of assistant to the deputy prosecutor at the Iranian prison of Gohardasht in Karaj, is appearing in particular for “
war crimes
” and “
murders
”, by virtue of universal jurisdiction of Swedish justice for these counts.
According to Anna Wester, of the Stockholm court, this international trial is a first in the history of the two countries.
Affected by around 30 complaints
The affair is very sensitive in Iran, activists accusing officials today in the government of having played a role there: like President Raïssi, accused by Amnesty International of having been a member of a "
Death Commission
" , at the origin of the executions. Asked in 2018 and 2020 about these executions, Ebrahim Raïssi denied having been involved in them but paid "
tribute
" to the "
order
" given, according to him, by Ayatollah Khomeini to proceed with this purification.
During the same period, Hamid Noury is also suspected of having participated in the execution of other prisoners on the basis of their ideology or their beliefs, considered to be opposed to "
the Iranian theocratic state
", according to the prosecution.
Today targeted by thirty complaints from civil parties - victims, witnesses or relatives of the victims - the accused "
denies any accusation of involvement in the alleged executions of 1988
", according to his lawyer Thomas Söderqvist.
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Human rights NGOs have campaigned for years for justice for what they consider to be the extrajudicial execution of thousands of Iranians, mostly young, across Iran as it drew to a close the Iranian-Iraqi war. In early May, more than 150 personalities, including Nobel laureates, former heads of state or government and former UN officials, called for an international investigation into the 1988 executions.
