{"id":36223,"date":"2022-08-27T01:00:06","date_gmt":"2022-08-26T23:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/?p=36223"},"modified":"2022-08-27T07:00:31","modified_gmt":"2022-08-27T05:00:31","slug":"washington-dc-ncri-press-conference-federal-complaint-against-ebrahim-raisi-for-role-in-the-1988-massacre-in-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/1988-massacre\/2022\/08\/washington-dc-ncri-press-conference-federal-complaint-against-ebrahim-raisi-for-role-in-the-1988-massacre-in-iran\/36223\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington, DC – NCRI Press Conference: Federal Complaint Against Ebrahim Raisi for Role in the 1988 Massacre in Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Washington, DC, Thursday, August 25, 2022:<\/strong> The National Council of Resistance of Iran \u2013 U.S. Representative Office (NCRI-U<\/a>S), held a press conference<\/a> to present details of the complaint filed in a federal court in Manhattan against Ebrahim Raisi<\/a>, President of the Iranian regime, just weeks before his trip to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The statutory bases of the complaint and the charges against Raisi also presented. Former US Attorney General Michael Mukasey attended the conference as well as the lawyers representing the plaintiffs in the case, to answer questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A fatwa<\/a> (a religious edict) issued by Ruhollah Khomeini, in the summer of 1988<\/a>, resulted in some 30,000 political prisoners, more than 90% of whom were members and supporters of the People\u2019s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI\/MEK<\/a>), being hanged, and others tortured. \u201cDeath Commissions,\u201d established by the clerical regime across the country to carry out the fatwa, decided which prisoners would live and which would be killed, after interrogations lasting a few minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ebrahim Raisi<\/a> was a member of the Death Commission in Tehran and was, therefore, personally responsible for the executions and torture that ensued. The complaint\u2019s plaintiffs are individual political prisoners who survived the 1988 massacre<\/a> of political prisoners in Iran, and the families whose loved ones were murdered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is the first time that a court will have the opportunity to examine allegations that the mullahs\u2019 president committed gross violations of international human rights law, including crimes against humanity, for which he should be held accountable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The plaintiffs are all supporters of the MEK <\/a>and the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI<\/a>). They are former political prisoners, survivors of the 1988 massacre<\/a>, and families of MEK <\/a>martyrs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former United States Attorney General Michael Mukasey and Mr. Steven M. Schneebaum, Counsel for Plaintiffs, also participated in the press conference to share professional insight on the lawsuit and the legal mechanism of the U.S. judicial system\u2019s jurisdiction to try Ebrahim Raisi for his crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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