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The Stockholm District Court sentenced a former Iranian official to life in prison on Thursday for war crimes and the killing of political prisoners during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.
At the time of the murders, Hamid Noury was a 27-year-old assistant deputy prosecutor at Gohardasht prison in Karaj, Iran.
According to prosecutors, Voice of America writes, the killings were ordered by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of Iran at the time. The executed prisoners were loyal to an Iranian opposition group, the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq.
Noury, now 61, was arrested upon arrival at Stockholm airport in 2019. He has denied the charges.
The Swedish court said it believed the executions were a “serious violation of international humanitarian law” because of the international armed conflict.
A crowd of victims’ families gathered outside the courtroom cheered when the verdict was announced, the Court News Service said. Many relatives testified throughout the trial.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry believes the decision is “politically motivated and has no legal validity,” spokesman Nasser Kanaani said in a statement.
Observers said the decision escalates already strained relations between Iran and Sweden amid concerns of retaliation. Iran has been condemned for detaining foreign nationals to gain political leverage.
Noury can appeal the decision. If released, he will be deported from Sweden.
Some information for this report came from Reuters, Agence France-Presse and The Associated Press.
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