Iranian Implicated In 1988 Massacre Appeals Life Sentence

Hamid Nouri's family is appealing the Swedish court's decision upholding his life sentence to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, according to an Iranian lawmaker.

The Stockholm Court of Appeals upheld Hamid Nouri's life sentence last week following his appeal denying his role in Iran's 1988 massacre. Initially, Nouri was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Stockholm Regional Court on July 14, 2022, equivalent to 25 years in Swedish legal terms.

In an interview with IRNA, Parliamentarian Zohreh Elahian called the sentence which followed 92 trial sessions "premeditated".

In July, Kazem Gharibabadi, the secretary of Iran's High Council for Human Rights, claimed that Sweden was holding Nouri "hostage" and demanded that he be released. He alleged that Sweden had no evidence against Nouri and was simply defending the interests of the opposition in exile, The Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, an exiled Iranian resistance group, who had thousands killed in the massacre.
It is the first time an Iranian regime official has been prosecuted for his role in the 1988 massacre. When the regime was purging political prisoners at Gohardasht Prison in Karaj near Tehran, Nouri was a deputy prosecutor at the prison. In the massacre, approximately 30,000 people were brutally murdered, 90% of whom were members of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK).

In a statement, 452 Iranian activists and victims' families expressed their gratitude for the court's ruling, calling it a "huge victory for the Iranian justice movement."