{"id":250555,"date":"2021-11-10T11:07:08","date_gmt":"2021-11-10T16:07:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=250555"},"modified":"2023-02-07T23:36:32","modified_gmt":"2023-02-07T22:36:32","slug":"iran-1988-massacre-first-session-of-hamid-nourys-trial-in-albania-testimony-of-mohammad-zand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/iran-1988-massacre-of-political-prisoners\/iran-1988-massacre-first-session-of-hamid-nourys-trial-in-albania-testimony-of-mohammad-zand\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran 1988 Massacre: First Session of Hamid Noury\u2019s Trial in Albania. Testimony of Mohammad Zand"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Iran
First Session of Hamid Noury\u2019s Trial in Albania. Testimony of Mohammad Zand<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Iranian former political prisoner, Mohammad Zand, testified on Wednesday at the trial of Hamid Noury, aka Abbassi, in Albania. Noury\u2019s trial<\/a> was transferred from Sweden to Albania to hear the testimonies of 7 members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK)<\/a> in Ashraf 3, including Mohammad Zand.\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hamid Noury was arrested in 2019 due to his role in the 1988 massacre<\/a> of over 30,000 political prisoners. These seven MEK members witnessed Noury\u2019s criminal conduct during the massacre in Gohardasht prison.\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the summer of 1988<\/a>, over 30,000 political prisoners, mostly the MEK members, were condemned to execution by the so-called \u201cDeath Commissions<\/a>,\u201d and based on a fatwa by the regime\u2019s then-Supreme Leader, Ruhollah Khomeini. Tehran\u2019s current president, Ebrahim Raisi, was a key member of Tehran\u2019s \u201cDeath Commission,\u201d which was tasked with identifying the \u201csteadfast\u201d MEK members and condemning them to death. Hamid Noury was one of the prison officials active in this massacre.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The following paragraphs are some excerpts of Mohammad Zand\u2019s shocking testimony on Wednesday.\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mohammad Zand was arrested in 1981 and spent 11 years in prison for supporting the MEK. His brother, Reza Zand, was executed during the 1988 massacre.\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOn July 28, 1988, the prison authorities stopped giving us newspapers,\u201d Mohammad Reza Zand said.\u00a0 According to him, when Zand and several other prisoners objected to this decision, they were beaten.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDavood Lashgari [a torturer] took us out of the cell and into the hallway. He blindfolded us and asked us what our charge was. As soon as we said we are the MEK supporters, the guards started to beat us,\u201d Zand said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA prison guard, Davood, who was trained in martial arts, kicked me in the foot and broke my toe. They continued beating us for an hour.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Zand, after an hour of beating, Lashgari asks prisoners the same question about their charges; when they say \u201cthe MEK supporters,\u201d he tells them: \u201cGo back to your cells. We\u2019ll come for you on Thursday.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I returned to the ward, I was in very bad conditions. My brother, Reza, saw me and said you are very ill. I was falling to the ground when Gholam-Hossein Eskandari and Ramin Ghasemi helped me go to the showers, where I vomited. That night I tried to sleep with that pain,\u201d Mr. Zand said.\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOn Friday, July 29, they turned off the TV and banned any open airtime. My brother, Reza Zand, was walking with Mahmoud\u00a0Royayie<\/a>\u00a0and said this has gone far beyond ordinary harassment. We need to protest,\u201d he added.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Reza Zand was 21 years old and a college student studying technology. He was arrested in September of 1981 along with his friend, Parvis Sharifi. Both were executed during the 1988 massacre.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When Mohammad Reza Zand asked Reza why he thought the situation was not normal, he said: \u201cDon\u2019t you remember what they did to Masoud\u00a0Moghbeli?\u201d\u00a0Moghbeli\u00a0was transferred to the so-called \u201cJoint Committee\u201d in March of 1988 to be released. The authorities asked him to do an interview, which he refused. Thus, they told him: \u201cGo tell your friends we\u2019ll come for you soon.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn our last meeting with our mother, Reza told her that you won\u2019t see me again. This regime will not let us go free,\u201d Zand said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOn July 30, the prison guard entered and called out eight names, including Reza\u2019s name,\u201d Zand said. \u201cHe gave me his ring and prayer beads and told me to keep them to remember him. I declined to take them, so he gave them to another prisoner and said, \u2018Goodbye. We\u2019re gone.\u2019\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Zand, around 11 am, Hassan Ashrafian, another MEK supporter, sees Lashgari and several plainclothes agents carrying a wheelbarrow full of hanging ropes. Later, Zand sees them too.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTwo or three hours later, we heard shouts of \u2018Death to\u00a0Monafegh\u2019 [a derogatory term the regime uses to refer to MEK members],\u201d Zand recalls.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe executions began on July 30, 1988. They first executed prisoners who were transferred from Mashhad, including Jafar Hashemi and Dr. Mohsen\u00a0Ghafour\u00a0Maghrebi. These prisoners openly defended their identity as the MEK supporters.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOn July 30, they executed those who refused to give interviews, including Halal\u00a0Layeghi\u00a0and Mahshid Razaghi. The latter was a member of Iran\u2019s national soccer team. On July 32, the guard came and took the prisoners who were from Karaj. These prisoners were: Mehrdad Samadzadeh, Mehrdad\u00a0Ardebili, Hossein Bahri,\u00a0Zeinolabedin\u00a0Afshun, Mohammad\u00a0Farmani, and Ali\u00a0Osati, who was a close friend of mine,\u201d Zand testified. According to Zand, they all were later executed,\u201d Mr. Zand said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOn August 5, they brought Gholamhossein Feiz to our ward. He said that the executions had started, and he had learned about it while he was in solitary confinement.\u201d\u00a0 Gholamhossein\u00a0Feiz\u00a0 tells\u00a0Zand that \u201cIf they take me to the death commission, I will defend my support for MEK.\u201d Feiz was executed on August 6.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

First encounter with death commission<\/h3>\n

Zand was shortly after taken to the \u201cDeath Commission.\u201d There,\u00a0Hossainali\u00a0Nayeri asked them whether he wanted to be pardoned by Khomeini or not?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI said my sentence will be over soon, and why did you execute my brother? He would have been released in three years,\u201d Zand responds. He was taken to another hall. \u201cThere, I could hear the voices of Lashgari, Hamid Abbasi [Noury], and Naserian.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Zand, \u201cLashgari came and called out several names and took them to the amphitheater, where prisoners were executed. They took Nasser Mansouri to the gallows, although he was paralyzed.\u201d The amphitheater, or \u2018Hossainieh\u2019, later became known as the \u201cDeath Hall.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAfter about half an hour, I Saw Mahmoud Zaki. I asked him what\u00a0did you say\u00a0when they\u00a0asked\u00a0your charges. He said: \u2018I said I am a MEK supporter. He told us later: \u2018The killings have begun. My duty is to defend my identity as a MEK supporter.\u2019 Ali\u00a0Haghverdi, who was with us, also said the same thing.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The second encounter with the death commission<\/h3>\n

Zand said: \u201cOn August 13, I was taken to the \u201cDeath Commission again.\u201d Unfortunately, I couldn\u2019t defend my identity as a MEK supporter. When I later joined the MEK in Iraq, I told them what I saw and decided to continue to struggle for freedom.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Zand was later taken to solitary confinement and spent around three months there. He was transferred to the general ward, and the first person he saw was Mahmoud\u00a0Royaie. \u201cAs far as I know, you\u2019re the last one,\u201d Mahmoud told Zand. \u201cThere were 160-170 prisoners in that ward before. Of all the prisoners in\u00a0Gohardasht, those few remained.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was allowed to meet my parents and sister ten days later. When they asked me where Reza was, I told them: \u2018go and ask them,\u201d Zand said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAfter a few days, they called my father and told him to go to Evin prison with Reza\u2019s identification papers. He went to prison without the papers,\u201d Zand said. \u201cThere, they gave him a bag, a shirt, and a watch. Reza had broken his watch as it pointed to two o\u2019clock to indicate what time he had been executed.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The regime\u2019s authorities tried to intimidate Zand\u2019s father and told him not to hold any ceremony and forced him to give them Reza\u2019s identification papers. \u201cWhen he refused, they started beating him and staged a mock execution for him. But he said: \u2018Execute me. I will join my son.\u2019\u201d <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Simultaneous with the trial,\u00a0a number of\u00a0survivors of the 1988 massacre and families of the victims gathered outside the\u00a0District\u00a0court of Durres. They also shared their stories with the press and shed light on the regime\u2019s crimes against humanity.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

November 10 – Durres, Albania
Numerous PMOI\/MEK members, including former political prisoners & survivors of #Iran<\/a>'s #1988Massacre<\/a>, were interviewed by the media on the executions of over 30,000 political prisoners & the role of regime officials\/operatives.#ProsecuteRaisiNOW<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/JPc9nm3vvA<\/a><\/p>\n

— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI\/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) November 10, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n