Tuesday marked the thirty-ninth session of the Hamid Noury trial, held at the same time in Stockholm, Sweden, and Durres, Albania. Noury, a former official in various prisons of Iran, is charged with torturing inmates in the Gohardasht prison (Karaj) and taking part in the 1988 massacre of thousands of political prisoners. Noury was apprehended by Swedish authorities during a trip to the country in 2019. He is now standing trial in a court where many of his victims are giving harrowing testimonies of how he and other regime officials brutally tortured and executed prisoners.
The first 34 sessions of the trial were held in the District Court of Stockholm. At the request of the prosecutors, the judge decided to transfer the trial’s location to Albania in November, where thousands of members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) reside. Members of the MEK were the principal target of the 1988 massacre, in which the regime executed more than 30,000 political prisoners.
During Tuesday’s session, Mahmoud Royaei, a former political prisoner, gave a harrowing account of the atrocities that took place in Iran’s prisons during the 1988 massacre. Royaei was arrested in 1981 at the age of 18 for supporting the MEK and spent 10 years in Iran’s prisons. Royaei has described the crimes Iran’s regime committed against political prisoners in a series of five books. His writing also includes the role Noury played in the 1988 massacre as one of the senior prison guards in Gohardasht.
In Tuesday's session, Mahmoud Royaei, a former political prisoner who spent ten years in prison for supporting the MEK, testifies on the atrocities in the regime's horrific prisons.#1988Massacre#ProsecuteRaisiNOW
[File photo] pic.twitter.com/xW4wcXNI72
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) November 16, 2021
Royaei was transferred from Ghezelhesar to Gohardasht prison in March 1986.
In his testimony, Royaei laid out facts that indicate the 1988 massacre of political prisoners was a plan that was years in the making.
“In March 1988, a group of prisoners were brought from Kermanshah to Gohardasht. We did not know why the authorities had done this, but we later found out that this was part of the plan to classify the prisoners, a plan that had been carried out by Davoud Lashgari, Nasserian [Mohammad Moghiseh], and Hamid Abbasi [Noury] in February 1988,” Royaei said.
At the time, Royaei had overheard an important conversation from under the door of his cell.
“Davood Lashgari said, ‘We’re classifying them.’ At that time, I didn’t understand what he meant. But when they separated Marxist prisoners from the rest of us and transferred several others to Ward 1, I understood,” he said.
In April, one of the prisoners told Royaei that his interrogator had said that the status of all prisoners will be finalize soon and there will be a purge.
At around 10 or 11 pm on Thursday, July 28, 1988, Royaei recalled in his testimony, prison authorities called the names of several prisoners in Ward 3 of Gohardasht, where he stayed.
“They asked them what their accusation was. As soon as they said they were supporters of the MEK, the guards severely beat them,” Royaei said. “One or two hours later, they were brought back, bruised and bloodied. The guards said, we’ll come back for you on Saturday.”
Royaei's testimony indicates #Iran's #1988Massacre was years in the making.
“In March 1988, a group of prisoners were brought from Kermanshah to Gohardasht… under a plan to classify prisoners, employed by Davoud Lashgari, Nasserian [Mohammad Moghiseh] & Hamid [Noury]," he said. pic.twitter.com/ylUmw8tZyl— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) November 16, 2021
On the next day, the prisoners witnessed a series of suspicious moves by the prison guards, including the removal of televisions from the wards.
On July 30, the prison authorities summoned 10 prisoners from the ward.
“Around noon, I was speaking to one of inmates when we heard the news that there were some suspicious movements around one of the warehouses,” Royaei said.
According to accounts by other prisoners, Lashgari, Noury, and Moghiseh were seen walking around the warehouse, armed. And previously, other prisoners had seen guards taking hanging ropes to the warehouse in wheelbarrows.
“These series of events reminded us of the dark memories of 1981. Every night, hundreds of prisoners were executed while the authorities shouted ‘Death to the Monafegh’ [the term the regime uses to refer to the MEK,” Royaei said. “I personally thought that they can’t execute everyone, and it would have a very heavy price for them. I thought that they were only executing the group of prisoners who had been transferred from Mashhad to Gohardasht.”
The prisoners of Mashhad had been brought to Gohardasht in November 1987, and they were very vocal in their support for the MEK.
“At around 8 pm, one of the guards came to our ward and asked, ‘What was the name of Massoud Ghahremani’s father?’ I was puzzled at why he said ‘was’ and not ‘is,’” Royaei said.
On July 31, a prison guard entered the ward as Royaei was talking with Mohammad Reza Hejazi, a prisoner who had been transferred to Gohardasht from Karaj prison. His sentence had finished a year earlier but had not been released from prison.
“I told Mohammad Reza that your sentence is finished. The prosecutor of Karaj has said that you will be released next week,” Royaei said. “He told me, ‘Didn’t you see the hanging ropes? Khomeini will not leave us alone.’”
The guard took Hejazi and a few other prisoners who had come from Karaj prison. A few hours later the guards came and called several other names. These too were from Karaj prison.
“It became clear to us that the first executions were from the prisoners of Karaj because [Ebrahim] Raisi was the prosecutor of Karaj and personally knew them,” Royaei said.
Raisi, who is now the regime’s president, was one of the members of the “Death Commission,” a group of regime officials who summoned political prisoners one by one and decided their fate. Prisoners who did not disavow their support for the MEK would be sent to the gallows.
The Death Commission was acting on the direct orders of regime supreme leader Ruhollah Khomeini, who had issued a fatwa that stated anyone who continues to support the MEK is an enemy of God and deserves to die.
Raisi was a member of the “Death Commission” that decided the fate of each political prisoner. Those who did not disavow their support for the MEK would be sent to the gallows.
The Death Commission was acting on direct orders from regime supreme leader Ruhollah Khomeini. pic.twitter.com/TKiPoJAezX— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) November 16, 2021
On August 1, Davoud Lashgari entered the ward and summoned prisoners who had been sentenced to ten years or more in prison. “I think we were 70 or more prisoners who had more than ten years. We were taken out of those cells and taken to another section,” Royaei said.
There, the prisoners were asked their names and accusations. Anyone who said “MEK supporter” was separated from the rest and taken to the first floor.
“Thirty-five of us were taken to one of the sections on the first floor. The rest were sent to solitary confinement,” Royaei said.
On August 2, several more prisoners were summoned. “Around noon, I was talking with Behrooz Behanmzadeh. He believed that they will execute anyone who is charged with supporting the MEK,” Royaei said.
As they were speaking, the guards summoned Behrooz.
Around 1:30 pm, as he was eating lunch, Royaei was summoned along with several other prisoners. The prisoners were taken to a corridor that became known as the “Death Corridor,” where prisoners waited for their turn to meet the Death Commission. At the end of the Death Corridor was the “Death Hall,” the warehouse where prisoners were hanged in groups. As one group of inmates were hanged, the prison authorities forced the others to watch until it became their turn to have the noose thrown around their neck.
“I saw prisoners sitting on both sides [of the corridor],” Royaei said. He was told to sit at one of the intersections that led to one of the prison sections.
“Many prisoners were sitting. I looked from under my blindfold. I didn’t know a lot of them. After about half an hour, I recognized the voice of Hamid Abbasi [Noury] calling names. I pushed up my blindfold a bit and saw Hamid Abbasi standing in the middle of the hallway and reading names,” Royaei said.
About an hour later, Nasserian came and read another list of names. Royaei recognized the name of one of his friends he hadn’t seen in five years. “I tried to talk to him, but the guard noticed and transferred me to the end of the Death Corridor. I couldn’t talk to anyone because I was at a long distance from the main hallway,” Royaei said. “I could only see the prisoners who were near the office of the Death Commission and I knew they were talking to the prisoners.”
Around an hour later, Noury came back and read another dozen names, Royaei recalls.
“Around 5 or 6 pm, Nasserian came and said ‘Get up.’ He took me to the Death Commission,” Royaei said. “When I got in the room, there was a chair. I sat down and they told me to remove my blindfold. There was a long table and behind it were sitting two clerics and two individuals in plain clothes. Sitting across me was [Hossein Ali] Nayyeri. I didn’t recognize the other ones, but among the members of the Death Commission were [Mostafa] Pourmohammadi, the representative of the intelligence ministry, whom I didn’t know; [Morteza] Eshraghi, who was wearing plain clothes and I knew him; and there was Raisi whom I thought to be a prison guard because when I saw him, he was walking and holding a string of prayer beads.”
“Around 5 or 6 pm, Nasserian took me to the Death Commission,” Royaei said. “There was [Hossein Ali] Nayyeri; intel ministry representative [Mostafa] Pourmohammadi, [Morteza] Eshraghi, and [Ebrahim] Raisi whom I thought to be a prison guard," he added.#ProsecuteRaisiNOW #Iran pic.twitter.com/U70BNCZexV
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) November 16, 2021
Nayyeri opened a file and asked a few introductory questions such as name, accusation, and other administrative information. And then he went on to the main question.
“He asked what is your accusation? I said ‘supporter.’ He said ‘supporter of who?’ I said, ‘MEK,” Royaei said. “There was another person there—I don’t remember who he was—he asked what do you think about the MEK? I said I have no opinion. He said, ‘How can you not have an opinion? Is it possible to have no opinion?’ I said that I’ve been in prison for seven years and have no news and thus no opinion.
“Pourmohammadi or [Esmail] Shoushtari said, ‘We are the pardon commission. We want to release some of the prisoners. We want to know if you’re willing to do an interview and write a letter of regret.”
“I said if you release me, I will commit to have nothing to do with anyone. Raisi told me to get out of the room. Pourmohammadi also told me to get out.
“When I got out of the room Eshraghi came to me and said, ‘Write it down.’ I said, ‘I haven’t said anything.’ He said, ‘Write down that if you are released, you will have nothing to do with anyone.’
“I was taken to the room of the court assistant. He gave me a paper. I removed my blindfold and wrote down that if I am released, I will have nothing to do with anyone. When it was over, a guard came and I handed the paper to him.
“I tried to go to the place where many prisoners were sitting. One of the guards who was there told me to go back and that my name wasn’t there.”
Royaei went to the bathroom and heard Nasserian call his name. He ignored the call. Ten minutes later, he came back and sat down in the corridor. There he heard Noury’s voice again, calling 10-15 names. He realized they were being taken for execution.
“I was sitting at less than a meter of Hamid Abbasi. I didn’t need to see his face to recognize him. I could see a few meters from under the blindfold. I knew exactly to whom each pair of pants and shoes belong,” Royaei said. “All the guards were wearing military attire. But Nasserian and Hamid Abbasi were wearing plain clothes.”
In the Death Corridor, Royaei heard Noury calling 10-15 names, those being taken for execution.
“I was sitting less than a meter from [Noury]. I could see a few meters from under the blindfold. The guards were wearing military attire. But Nasserian & [Noury] wore plain clothes.” pic.twitter.com/8TJUJUVCoe— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) November 16, 2021
After a few minutes, Nasserian saw Royaei and said, “You’re here? Why don’t you answer when I call your name. Let’s go, Haj Agha [a term used to refer to a superior authority] wants to see you.”
Royaei was taken back to the Death Commission room, where he removed his blindfold and saw the same group of officials.
“They started insulting me and what I had written on that paper. They said, ‘Are you illiterate? How come you haven’t written your name and sign the paper. You haven’t written your opinion about the MEK. You’ve just written that you will not bother anyone if you’re released,’” Royaei said.
Pourmohammadi handed over a paper to Royaei and said, “You have to write like this.”
On the paper it was written that the signatory condemned the explosion of the office of Islamic Republic Party and the explosion of the prime minister’s office and asked for pardon from Khomeini.
“I didn’t read the entire text. It was a whole page. When I saw the request for pardon, I returned the paper and said, ‘I have nothing to do with this. I was in prison when the prime minister’s office was blown up. I’m not asking for pardon.’ Pourmohammadi told me to get out,” Royaei said.
When Royaei got out of the room, Eshraghi came to him and handed him his own paper and told him to complete it. “Write your full name and also write your opinion about the MEK,” Eshragi told Royaei.
“I added four or five lines, said that I have no opinion about the MEK and if I’m released, I will not work with any party or group,” Royaei said.
After handing the paper, Royaei went back and sat down in the Death Corridor.
An hour later, Noury came with a new list. “I think it was around 10 pm that he read the last list. Some were sitting on this side of the corridor and some on the other… I later realized those who were on the other side of the hall were to be executed and knew they would be executed,” Royaei said. “Those who were on this side of the hallway didn’t necessarily know they would be executed.”
After Royaei delivered his testimony, the prosecutor asked questions to clarify the facts.
Prosecutor: How well did you known Hamid Abbasi [Noury] prior to the Death Corridor?
Royaei: I came to Gohardasht prison in 1986 and I would see Hamid Abbasi and Nasserian from then. I’ve remembered his face ever since… In total I had seen Hamid Abbasi about five or six times from 1986 to the days of the Death Corridor.
Prosecutor: How do you know it was Hamid Abbasi reading the names in the Death Corridor?
Royaei: I had heard his voice many times. When he was reading out the names in the Death Corridor, I realized it was him. When I took off my blindfold, I became 100 percent certain. His face was different from the others, he walked differently, and his face was different. He was taller than the others and he did not wear the guards’ uniforms. He could be recognized even from a distance. I would even see Hamid Abbasi after the executions, and he was always with Nasserian… When I saw Hamid Abbasi, I didn’t have a blindfold. I saw him again in the judiciary office of Tehran’s Evin prison in 1989 and 1990.
The prosecutor then asked questions about what Royaei witnessed on August 3.
Royaei: The prisoners that Hamid Abbasi ordered to line up were taken to the Death Hall.
On this day, when they twice called me to the Death Commission, I never believed that it was a Parole Commission. I also didn’t realize the vast number of executions. The Death Commission members that I saw I realized they were senior figures because I knew Nayyeri was such.
Prosecutor: On the day of the [executions] did you see the individual Faraj?
Royaei: Yes, he was the person who would transfer the prisoners out of their wards. I also saw him in the Death Corridor, and he was wearing plainclothes. He was a tall and large individual, with a thick black beard. These I remember from seeing him in the ward.
Prosecutor: Did you know an individual known as Arab, and if so, tell me about him.
Royaei: Before Nasserian and Hamid Abbasi came to Gohardasht, Arab was in charge of Gohardasht prison’s judiciary office. After Nasserian and Abbasi came, Arab wasn’t active anymore and I never saw him again. I didn’t see him during the executions. He had dark hair and was relatively shorter, shorter than Hamid Abbasi. However, he had a large figure, and I didn’t see him much.
While the trial proceeded, several witnesses of the 1988 massacre and families of the victims gathered in front of the court in Durres and spoke to the press about the Iranian regime’s crimes against MEK members and dissidents.
At the same time, MEK members in Ashraf 3 held a gathering in memory of the victims of the 1988 massacre. During this ceremony, many political prisoners spoke and retold accounts of the atrocities that took place in Iran’s prisons. It is worth noting that hundreds of former political prisoners are now in Ashraf 3, and many of them were prepared to testify in the Stockholm court. Due to limitations in time, only a few were accepted as plaintiffs in the case.
Meanwhile, in Stockholm, where Noury and his lawyers are attending the trial through video conference, a large group of supporters of the MEK held their protest rally in front of the court. The demonstrators are demanding for a larger tribunal that includes other perpetrators and orchestrators of the 1988 massacre, including regime president Ebrahim Raisi and supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
The 1988 massacre has been described as a war crime and crime against humanity. Legal experts also recognize it as a “genocide” and should be addressed by international tribunals.
