{"id":251423,"date":"2021-11-26T09:59:23","date_gmt":"2021-11-26T14:59:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=251423"},"modified":"2025-09-20T17:26:30","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T16:26:30","slug":"editorial-the-not-so-subtle-message-of-an-iranian-henchmans-testimony-in-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/demonization-documents-statements\/editorial-the-not-so-subtle-message-of-an-iranian-henchmans-testimony-in-court\/","title":{"rendered":"EDITORIAL: The Not So Subtle Message of an Iranian Henchman\u2019s Testimony in Court"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Kazem<\/p>\n

November 1945 marked the commencement of the Nuremberg trials, which saw the prosecution of the Nazi henchmen who were involved in war crimes and crimes against humanity during World War II. The trials sought to bring to justice the perpetrators of one of the darkest episodes in modern history.<\/p>\n

Almost exactly 76 years later to the day, on Tuesday, a henchman of the Iranian regime, Hamid Noury, testified in court. He is charged by Swedish authorities, whose government recognizes universal jurisdiction, for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Specifically, Noury was involved in the massacre of over 30,000 political prisoners in Iran in 1988, over 90% of whom were affiliated with the main democratic opposition Mujahedin-e Khalq<\/a> (MEK).<\/p>\n

Over the years, the regime has tried to erase all traces and evidence of the massacre. These attempts have gone hand in hand with the mullahs\u2019 well-oiled misinformation campaign to demonize and vilify the MEK in order to tarnish the veracity of its claims.<\/p>\n

Noury\u2019s testimony<\/a> included many allegations against the MEK that have been sourced by the regime\u2019s intelligence services. As such, Noury unwittingly confirmed that the source of all the venomous anti-MEK propaganda is the Iranian regime\u2019s Ministry of Intelligence and its suppressive apparatus.<\/p>\n

Last week, several witnesses and members of the MEK, who are among the few survivors of the 1988 massacre, testified in an Albanian court. They provided gut-wrenching personal accounts of the regime\u2019s brutality and Noury\u2019s role in breathtaking detail, complete with a sizable replica of the prison in which Noury worked, the Gohardasht Prison.<\/p>\n

Instead of responding to these shocking revelations, Noury launched a dizzying diatribe, intermittently punctuated by agonizing moments of madness, brutality, and pathetic attempts to escape imminent justice.<\/p>\n

For most of the seven hours, he praised the religious fascists ruling Iran; rehashed stale accusations produced by the regime against the MEK and its leaders; praised the theocracy\u2019s founder Khomeini; lashed out at the \u201cdisrespect\u201d he heard in court toward the eliminated terrorist Qods Force<\/a> Commander Qassem Soleimani; defended the regime\u2019s president Ebrahim Raisi, who was one of the key perpetrators of the 1988 massacre; and expressed unrelenting devotion to the \u201cButcher of Evin Prison\u201d Assadollah Lajevardi.<\/p>\n

Noury\u2019s acclaimed hero, Lajevardi, was a monstrous psychopath. He can perhaps best be compared with former Nazi Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie known as the \u201cButcher of Lyon,\u201d who sent thousands of French Jews and Resistance partisans to concentration camps and personally tortured and executed his victims.<\/p>\n

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Royaei's testimony indicates #Iran<\/a>'s #1988Massacre<\/a> was years in the making.
\u201cIn 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<\/a><\/p>\n

— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI\/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) November 16, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n