In the past week, Iran’s regime has set major setbacks in its campaigns against the Iranian Resistance. On the one hand, the Swedish Appeals Court confirmed the life sentence of Hamid Noury, a former torturer and prison guard in Gohardasht Prison who was involved in the massacre of political prisoners in Iran in 1988. This was a major blow to a project by the regime trying to hijack the Justice Movement of the Iranian Resistance through its agents and to downplay the crime against humanity committed by the regime. In the meantime, Kazem Gharib Abadi, the so-called international and human rights deputy in the regime’s judiciary, has shed light on the disgrace and judicial failure of the regime’s sham trial against members of the Iranian Resistance.
Gharib Abadi, frustrated by the fact that the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) did not pay heed to their “absentia trial” by the judiciary, made statements that reveal that even the own regime does not buy into the mockery of the absentia trial after four decades of executions and mass killings.
On July 30, Farhikhtegan news outlet warned, “It does not seem that even if the process of reviewing the case and the definitive conviction of these individuals is completed, these actions would have any particular benefit and would harm the PMOI.”
Gharib Abadi, whose statements speak volumes about the regime’s desperation, said, “Perhaps the question arises, well, how can the (PMOI) defend themselves when they don’t have access to government-appointed lawyers? Just today, I saw an interview with one of the government-appointed lawyers who raised very good points. He said that, well, (PMOI) can send their own documents. If they send them, we, as government-appointed lawyers, will definitely make use of them.”
Gharib Abadi said, “You see, this is not a formal ceremonial matter. Now the question has been raised that if the (PMOI) themselves don’t want to appoint a lawyer, should we not establish a court? Shouldn’t we pursue the trial? This should not impede the implementation of justice and the pursuit of their legal case.”
The Human Rights Deputy of the Judiciary continued, “However, in any case, the contact information of these lawyers is available, and if we can provide a platform for their defense, they can send any documents at any stage. Even if they want to appoint another lawyer, the court will allow it, which means the government-appointed lawyers will step aside and appointed lawyers will take over and continue the work.”
However, in continuation of his statements, which were aired on the state-run news network, Gharib Abadi referred to the failure of the regime’s project in the Hamid Noury trial and said, “They have turned Mr. Noury’s case into a case against the Islamic Republic of Iran. This is an important point.”
He then revealed one of the aims of organizing show trials and “trial in absentia” and exposed the regime’s fruitless efforts to fabricate cases and create accusations against the PMOI in other countries.
After a sigh of frustration over the judiciary’s defeat, Gharib Abadi, with a hint of terrorist threat, said, “I want to make this statement here tonight: Sweden’s action in the trial of an innocent Iranian citizen will not be without cost for Sweden… In fact, we are determined to put an end to this impunity and deliver justice in any way we see fit. PMOI should not feel safe in any country.”
This only drives the point that the entire goal of the regime’s sham trial in absentia is nothing but an effort to first counter the growing popularity of the Iranian Resistance inside Iran and second, to create the grounds for more terrorist threats against the Iranian Resistance and its supporters abroad.
However, as the PMOI and the Iranian Resistance have proven throughout their history, no threat will deter them from the goal of bringing freedom to Iran. And today, we can see this determination in the relentless efforts of the PMOI Resistance Units across Iran and the ongoing campaigns of the Iranian Resistance against the regime across the globe.