Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, December 3, 2020—Thursday marked the second day of the high-profile trial of Assadollah Assadi, a Vienna-based Iranian diplomat who plotted to bomb a massive rally of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) in Paris in 2018. Assadi is being tried in a court in Antwerp, Belgium, along with his accomplices, Amir Sadouni, Nasimeh Naami, and Mehrdad Arefani, three Iranian regime agents with Belgian citizenship.
Assadi was arrested in Germany while he was on his way back to Austria after delivering an explosive package to Sadouni and Naami in Luxemburg. Sadouni and Naami were arrested in Belgium and Arefani in Paris shortly before the NCRI’s Free Iran Rally, an event with tens of thousands of participants from around the world. Had the bombing plot been carried out, it could have caused a disaster.
All suspects were later extradited to Belgium to be tried. After four decades that the Iranian regime has used its diplomatic facilities for terrorism and espionage against opposition members, this is the first time that an Iranian diplomat is standing trial on terrorism charges. Despite the regime’s protests, Assadi was stripped of his diplomatic immunity before the trial.
In the first session, which was held on November 27, the Belgian prosecutor revealed damning details about the bombing plot, including Assadi’s leading role and communication with the agents, the involvement of the highest levels of Iranian leadership in the decision and planning of the attack, and the use of diplomatic facilities and privileges to transfer the bomb from Iran to Europe. In the indictment, Belgian prosecutors demanded a 20-year prison sentence for Assadi, 18 years in prison for Sadouni and Na’ami, and 15 years for Arefani.
“We believe it is now time for an international tribunal to be set up and to prosecute the leaders of the regime, who are the true masterminds of hundreds of terrorist acts,” Farzin Hashemi, the Deputy Chairman of NCRI Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a press conference as the Antwerp court convened for its second session.
Hashemi refuted the Iranian regime’s claim that the Belgian court is not qualified to try Assadi and his accomplices. “For the mullahs in Iran, only courts are competent that issue verdicts of execution in a matter of a few minutes, without any due process. But now, we are here to express our views that this court has the competence to deal with this case,” he said.
#Iran regime’s diplomat-terrorist on Trial
The second session of the Belgium Court started today. The #Iranian resistance delegation held a news conference in front of the court. #ShutDownIranTerrorEmbassies #IWasATarget https://t.co/vtbf1NEGWB pic.twitter.com/0IG02hiumv— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) December 3, 2020
Hashemi also pointed that in a joint statement published on December 1, 240 European lawmakers condemned the regime’s terrorism and called on European states for a firm policy toward Tehran’s threats and the designation of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and the regime’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) as terrorist entities. The lawmakers also called on European leaders to withdraw the legal status of agents of the Iranian regime, whether it be refugee status or nationality, and then expel them from Europe.
“We hope that when this court confirms its competence and issues the verdict, as the prosecutor has requested, we will see the beginning of bringing the regime’s leaders to justice, whether in this country or around the world. I thank you very much,” Hashemi said.
“This case once again shows that as far as terrorism and its usage as a ruling tool is concerned, there is no difference between the regime’s various agencies, including between the Intelligence Ministry, Foreign Ministry, Khamenei’s office and Rouhani’s office,” said Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the NCRI and the main target of the foiled bombing plot.
Madam Rajavi called on European states to take a decisive stance toward the regime’s state-sponsored terrorism.
This case once again shows that as far as terrorism and its usage as a ruling tool is concerned, there is no difference between the regime’s various agencies, including between the Intelligence Ministry, Foreign Ministry, Khamenei’s office and Rouhani’s office. #Iran
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) December 3, 2020
