Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Sweden, October 16, 2019—In the summer of 1988, Ruhollah Khomeini, founder and then-supreme leader of the mullahs’ regime, ordered a mass purge of Iran’s prisons of anyone who had ties to the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), the main opposition to his brutal rule. In the span of a few weeks, regime authorities tried and executed more than 30,000 political prisoners, most of them MEK members and supporters. Many of the victims had almost finished their prison sentence, and others had already finished their sentence and were held for an extended period of time.
31 years later, the Iranian people have neither forgotten nor forgiven the perpetrators of the 1988 massacre. On Saturday, pictures of thousands of MEK members executed by the regime during the 1988 massacre decorated the streets of Malmo, Sweden. Supporters of the MEK, who had gathered for a demonstration on the anniversary of the World Day Against the Death Penalty, honored the memory of the 1988 massacre victims and called for a firm policy toward a regime that has been committing crimes against its people for more than four decades.
#MEK supporters in Sweden commemorate victims of the 1988 #1988Massacre #NoDeathPenalty #NoImpunity4Mullahs https://t.co/utCo98aKx2
— Iran Freedom (@4FreedominIran) October 15, 2019
The event also included street displays of the crimes committed inside Iran’s prisons.
During the demonstration, family members of the victims of the 1988 massacre as well as the survivors and witnesses of the regime’s crimes delivered speeches. The participants called on European leaders and the United Nations to refer the regime’s human rights dossier to the UN Security Council.
The participants also drew attention to the 1988 massacre in particular, which still remains unpunished, and demanded that the perpetrators be tried at the International Criminal Court. Speakers at the event reminded the audience that the perpetrators of the crime continue to hold positions of power in the Iranian regime. This includes Ebrahim Raisi, the regime’s chief of judiciary, and Alireza Avaei, the current Justice Minister of regime president Hassan Rouhani, whom many in the west consider a moderate figure. Mostafa Pourmohammadi, a former Justice Minister, was also a key member of the Death Commissions, delegations of judges that sentenced thousands of MEK prisoners to death.
#MEK supporters in Sweden underlined that the Iran's regime has massacred 120,000 people during past 40 years of its rule, including the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in the summer of 1988.#1988Massacre #NoDeathPenalty pic.twitter.com/aUoB0pvueX
— Iran Freedom (@4FreedominIran) October 15, 2019
The participants in the Malmo demonstration also stressed that the regime continues to use executions as a tool to maintain its hold on power. During the presidency of Rouhani, his regime has executed more than 3,800 people. The MEK supporters at Malmo echoed the voices of millions of Iranians who want regime change in their country and the establishment of a democratic government.
The participants voiced their support for Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), and her ten-point plan for a free Iran, which also includes the abolition of the death penalty.