Hamid Nouri, accused of involvement in human rights violations in Iran against political prisoners.
The Supreme Court of Sweden announced that it will not review the request for the appeal of the verdict against Hamid Nouri, a former deputy warden of Gohardasht Prison, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for his participation in the mass murder of political prisoners in the summer of 1988.
At the time, the regime brutally executed 30,000 political prisoners, around 90% of whom were members of the opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).
The trial concluded in July 2022 in Sweden, where Nouri was convicted of “gross violation of international humanitarian law and murder.”
A higher court also affirmed the life sentence for Nouri on December 19, 2023. The highest judicial authority in Sweden, in its March 6, 2024, ruling, stated, “The Supreme Court has decided not to grant a review of the final judgment in this case. This decision means that the verdict issued by the appellate court remains in force.”
Hamid Nouri, 62, was arrested on November 9, 2019, upon his arrival at Stockholm airport on a direct flight from Iran, based on a complaint filed by human rights activists and opponents of the Iranian regime.
The Swedish prosecutor’s office charged Hamid Nouri with evidence related to the secret mass murder of thousands of political prisoners in Iranian regime prisons in the summer of 1988.
These executions were carried out on the orders of Ruhollah Khomeini to retaliate against the PMOI/MEK after the end of the Iran-Iraq War.
During the 1988 summer executions, Hamid Nouri, using the alias “Hamid Abbasi,” served as the deputy warden of Gohardasht Prison.
The Swedish prosecutor filed charges against Hamid Nouri based on the principle of universal jurisdiction, allowing the prosecution of crimes regardless of the location where they occurred. Swedish judicial authorities tried him on these grounds.
The trial, spanning 93 sessions in the Swedish judiciary, involved at least 60 complainants and witnesses and 12 experts in Islamic jurisprudence and international law discussing Nouri’s case.
The Stockholm regional court, which sentenced Nouri to life imprisonment, stated in its verdict, “He, as the deputy prison official, was involved in selecting prisoners, transferring them to the sentencing committee, and transporting them to the execution site.”
Hamid Nouri denied these charges, asserting that the allegations about his role in the executions are “fabricated.”
However, even the judge of the appellate court stated in a December 2023 statement, “Our assessment is that the case presented by the prosecutor is strong and convincing overall, and the regional court correctly determined that the prosecutor’s charges are well-supported.”
This case has garnered special attention due to implicating current senior Iranian officials, including the Iranian regime President Ebrahim Raisi, in membership in the so-called “Death Committee” during the summer of 1988, which issued execution orders. The Death Committee was a group of regime officials who tried prisoners in minutes-long trials and sent them to the gallows if they did not repent their support for the MEK.
The case has also strained relations between Sweden and the Iranian regime.
In March 2022, while the trial of Hamid Nouri was still ongoing, Iranian security forces detained Johan Floderus, a Swedish employee of the European Union, upon his return from a personal trip at Tehran airport.
This Swedish citizen is accused of espionage, which, if proven under Iranian regime laws, could lead to execution.
Floderus’ parents have requested the Swedish government to consider exchanging prisoners between the two countries and to swap their son with Hamid Nouri.
Another Swedish citizen, Ahmadreza Jalali, a physician and university professor, has been imprisoned in Iran since 2016 and is sentenced to death.
In recent years, the Iranian regime has detained several citizens of Western countries and dual nationals on various charges, including espionage and collaboration with foreign security agencies.
Human rights organizations and Western governments have condemned these actions as “hostage-taking and extortion for political purposes.”
