Laleh Bazargan to Voice of America: We Will Not Forgive Hamid Nouri; Date for Final Verdict Set

Following the announcement of the date for the verdict in Hamid Nouri's case by the appeals court, Laleh Bazargan, sister of one of the victims of the political prisoners' massacre in 1988, discussed the judicial process in Sweden in an interview with Voice of America. The appeals court judge announced on Wednesday that the final verdict regarding this former judicial official of the Islamic Republic would be declared on the afternoon of December 19 this year. The judge, speaking on the last day of the trial on Wednesday, November 8, added that due to the possibility of Hamid Nouri fleeing justice, his imprisonment would be extended until the verdict is announced. Hamid Nouri, known by the alias Hamid Abbasi, a former deputy prosecutor in the Islamic Republic's judiciary, was arrested in November 2019 by a Swedish court order. On July 13 of last year, after 93 sessions of hearings in the Stockholm District Court, he was sentenced to life imprisonment and ordered to pay compensation to the families of the executed. Laleh Bazargan, who lost her brother Bijan Bazargan in the 1988 executions, told Voice of America that on November 8 and 9, the defense lawyers for Hamid Nouri presented their case. According to Ms. Bazargan, Thomas Bodström and Hanna Larsson, along with a group of legal advisors from Iran guided by the Islamic Republic's embassy, attempted to question the fairness of the Swedish judicial system. This accusation came at a time when Thomas Bodström, Hamid Nouri's defense attorney, served as Sweden's Minister of Justice from 2000 to 2006. Laleh Bazargan added that this action faced criticism from prosecutors who told them that they had worked with this system and knew it was fair. She noted that additionally, Nouri's lawyers insisted that 'the death penalty board in 1988 was a pardon board, and our loved ones all had death sentences and were supposed to be pardoned by this board.' According to the sister of Bijan Bazargan, who was executed in 1988, Nouri's lawyers, guided by embassy security advisors, 'tried to say that the death board was actually a pardon board that saved condemned prisoners from execution simply for not being obstinate.' She added, 'Based on these distortions, Hamid Nouri's defense lawyers claimed that pardon is independent of trial and that the primary court's ruling requiring adherence to fair trial principles and its conclusion that the executions, due to the violation of these principles, constitute murder and torture, are both incorrect.' Laleh Bazargan further noted that some of the plaintiffs, including Iraj Mesdaghi, had submitted their imprisonment convictions to the court, which became part of the court's documentation, and 'Nouri's lawyers cannot even identify one person who was pardoned by this board.' Hamid Nouri stated in his defense on Wednesday that his four years in solitary confinement were, in a way, the best years of his life, adding, 'I settled accounts with my God and somewhat cleared my account. If you release me, I am satisfied.' Ms. Bazargan told Voice of America, 'When Hamid Nouri was saying these words, I was holding a photo of my brother, Bijan Bazargan, in front of Hamid Nouri's eyes. My brother had a ten-year prison sentence and after six and a half years, facing the death board's ruling in Ghezel Hesar prison in the summer of 1988, was executed by Hamid Nouri.' She said, 'I whispered to Hamid Nouri that as long as you do not tell the truth, I will not forgive you; we will not forgive you.' The appeals court for Hamid Nouri concluded as Massoud Setayesh, the spokesman for the Islamic Republic's judiciary, on Wednesday, November 8, commented on the latest status of the case of Johan Flodros, a Swedish diplomat imprisoned in Iran, stating: 'The case has been sent to the competent court following the issuance of the indictment.' The spokesman had previously stated on September 12, without naming Johan Flodros, that his case would be sent to court 'with the final decision of the prosecutor's office.' He added that this Swedish citizen 'committed crimes on the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran for which preliminary investigations have been conducted, and he has been sent to prison under legal provisions.' However, Massoud Setayesh did not mention the charges against this Swedish citizen.