Swedish Court Finds Iranian Guilty Over Mass Executions

A Swedish court will on Thursday render its verdict in the trial of Hamid Noury, a former Iranian prison official accused of war crimes during a 1988 purge of dissidents. The proceedings marked the first time an Iranian official has gone on trial for the mass executions. 

The proceedings, which have been running since August 2021, have strained relations between Sweden and Iran, raising concerns about reprisals against Western prisoners held by the Islamic regime. Two Swedish-Iranian citizens are on death row.

Noury, 61, faced charges including crimes against humanity and war crimes for his role in the killing of at least 5,000 prisoners across Iran, allegedly ordered by supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini.

The killings were revenge for attacks carried out by exiled opposition group the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK) at the end of the Iran-Iraq war of 1980-88.

The prosecution has called for a life sentence for the accused, claiming he was assistant to the deputy prosecutor of Gohardasht prison near Tehran at the time.

They say he handed down death sentences, brought prisoners to the execution chamber and helped prosecutors gather prisoners' names. The court is expected to announce its verdict at 01:30 pm (1130 GMT).

Throughout the nine months of hearings, Noury, often theatrical and smiling, rejected the testimony of former detainees. He has argued that he was on leave during the period in question, and said he worked in another prison. Noury denounced the accusations as a plot by the MEK to discredit the regime in Tehran.

Noury was arrested at a Stockholm airport in November 2019 after Iranian dissidents in Sweden filed police complaints against him.