Alizadeh Tabatabai: The Supreme Court of the Islamic Republic Violated the Military Court's Ruling on the Downing of the Ukrainian Airplane

The lawyer for several families of the victims of flight "PS752" states that the ruling issued by the military court was violated by the Supreme Court of the country with "12 serious objections," and the court is obliged to reconsider this case. Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabai told "Ensaaf News": "Some of the Supreme Court's objections elevate the charges against the main defendants to the level of Moharebeh (waging war against God)." The lawyer also mentioned that some families have no hope for a "fair review" of this case within the country, but added that foreign judicial authorities do not have access to the case documents and can only take actions related to financial matters. Mohsen Asadi Lari, the father of Zeinab and Mohammad Hossein, two of the victims of this flight, described the Supreme Court's objections as "substantive" and stated that all issues must be reconsidered. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps shot down the Ukrainian airplane shortly after it took off from Imam Khomeini Airport in the suburbs of Tehran on January 8, 2020, with two missiles, killing all 176 passengers on board. The military court's ruling in Tehran, issued three years after the downing of the airplane by the IRGC, sentenced the first defendant to "13 years in prison" for the charges of "manslaughter" and "cancellation of the issued order," of which 10 years are enforceable, according to the court. The court also considered the behavior of the first defendant as stemming from "ignorance of the subject and a mistaken assumption about the discovered target." The court imposed prison sentences of one to three years for defendants two to ten. At that time, the association of the families of the victims of flight PS752 rejected the ruling issued by the Tehran military court, stating: "We do not accept the jurisdiction of this court at all and will not accept it, let alone abide by its ruling." Human Rights Watch has reported that since the downing of the Ukrainian airplane by the IRGC, the families of the victims have been systematically targeted for harassment by Iranian government officials. The Ontario Superior Court in Canada has deemed the missile strike on the Ukrainian passenger plane by the IRGC as "deliberate and terrorist." In August 2023, the Ontario Superior Court ordered the Islamic Republic to pay over $142 million in damages to the families of eight people who lost their lives due to the downing of flight PS752 by the IRGC near Tehran. The Ontario Superior Court also determined $107 million in damages for the families of six other individuals who died in the airplane's downing. The total amount awarded in damages to the families of 14 victims is nearly $250 million. The Islamic Republic did not defend itself in either of the two courts, and the ruling was issued in absentia, with no compensation paid. Despite severing diplomatic relations with Tehran and expelling Iranian diplomats from Canada, Canada still considers the Islamic Republic's assets as diplomatic. A meeting of several families of the victims of flight PS752 with the Canadian National Security Council has taken place. Canada has listed the IRGC as a terrorist organization, and the Canadian Minister of Public Safety stated that with the designation of the IRGC as a terrorist entity, some Iranian officials residing in Canada may face expulsion. The association of the families of the victims of flight PS752 emphasizes its commitment to seeking truth and justice. The Supreme Court of Canada is reviewing the families' request regarding flight PS752; Ardeshir Zarehzadeh stated: "We will pursue the case in other countries." The Ukrainian airline association reacted to the death of Ebrahim Raisi, stating that he played a role in the shooting down of the passenger flight. The plaintiffs of flight PS752 warned Neda Al-Nasheef: "Perhaps the IRGC's missiles will hit your airplane as well."