On Saturday, June 15, 2024, in a shameful hostage exchange, convicted criminal Hamid Noury was transferred from a Swedish prison to Iran. Noury who was sentenced to life in prison by a Swedish court for his role in the execution of thousands of Iranian political prisoners in 1988. In exchange for Noury, Iran’s regime released two Swedish citizens who were held hostage in Iran’s prisons.
The mullah regime, which has reaped nothing but disgrace and additional condemnation from this dirty deal, is desperately trying to present it to its discouraged forces, as a victory over the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).
But the truth is that due to the relentless campaign of the Iranian Resistance and the testimony of PMOI members who survived Iran’s prisons during the 1988 massacre, the trial of the Noury has become an irreparable conviction of the Iranian regime.
Hamid Noury, who under the alias Hamid Abbasi played a direct role in the massacre of prisoners at Gohardasht Prison, initially denied his identity and responsibility. However, with strong evidence and the testimony of steadfast prisoners, his identity and involvement in the massacre of political prisoners in the summer of 1988 were confirmed.
During the trial, after undeniable evidence was presented by plaintiffs who witnessed Nouri’s criminal role in the death corridor, the judge announced on November 5, 2021, that the court would go to Albania for two weeks to hear the testimony of individuals whose testimonies were essential for the court’s judgment.
In Albania, the plaintiffs presented a 3D film showing different angles of the death corridor, the Death Committee room, and the execution hall of the prisoners, as well as a model of Gohardasht Prison. They were able to provide a clear picture of the massacre of prisoners in Gohardasht Prison and the atrocities committed by the regime. According to prosecutors, from this point, the course of the trial and the indictment changed. Hamid Noury, who before the testimony of the plaintiffs in Albania had denied his name and identity and claimed that Gohardasht Prison, the massacre, and the fatwa of Iranian regime founder Ruhollah Khomeini for the massacre of PMOI members did not exist, was forced to retreat. On November 25, 2021, after the court returned from Albania to Sweden, emphasizing the most forbidden and feared name that shakes the pillars of the regime, he said with fear and trembling: “Please understand my situation. If I mention the name of the PMOI here, as soon as I enter Iran, I will be arrested. The Iranian judiciary is extremely serious, extremely lawful. Even in my interrogations, I mentioned the PMOI or Gohardasht Prison several times. Now I am afraid. I am certain. From now on, fear has taken over my whole being…”
During the trial, the plaintiffs and PMOI witnesses, while recounting the crimes of the Noury and other executioners and members of the Death Committee, presented shocking excerpts from the last memories and wills of the steadfast individuals who remained committed to the PMOI. These testimonies not only provided the documentation for Noury’s conviction but also spread the name and message of the steadfast freedom fighters widely in the country, city by city, and house by house.
Finally, the prosecutors, based on the undeniable documents from plaintiffs that had been published years before Noury’s arrest, requested the maximum punishment for him. On July 14, 2022, Noury was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Upon the request for an appeal, the appellate court convened and re-examined the testimonies of the plaintiffs and witnesses. On December 19, 2023, the appellate court, after thoroughly reviewing the documents and witness testimonies, reaffirmed the initial court’s verdict, again issuing the maximum punishment—life imprisonment. This was, by extension, an irreversible conviction of the regime in its entirety.
On this day, free Iranians and the families of the martyrs held a demonstration in front of the court, demanding the trial and punishment of all the perpetrators and commanders of the massacre. Kenneth Lewis, one of the lawyers of the plaintiffs, stressed that the course of the testimonies presented in this court, it was not just Hamid Noury who was on trial, but these testimonies also applied to the President of the Iranian regime, regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei, Hossein-Ali Nayeri ,the head of the death commission, Mostafa Pourmohammadi (Present candidate for presidency after death of regime president Ebrahim Raisi), and all those who are the main criminals.
Thus, the trial of Noury, with over 120 demonstrations and protest gatherings and dozens of press conferences that were the loudest voice of Iranian justice seekers in the world, turned into a trial of the entire regime of massacre in Iran.
After the release of Noury, the IRGC-run Tasnim News Agency, on June 16, quoted Kazem Gharib Abadi, the deputy for international affairs in the judiciary of Islamic Republic, as saying, “The enemies had turned Mr. Noury’s case into a case for putting the Islamic Republic of Iran on trial.”