The 31st session of the trial of 104 members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK, also known as the Hypocrites) and the legal entity of the organization was held on Tuesday, April 15, in Branch 11 of the Tehran Province Criminal Court.
During the session, the plaintiffs' lawyer, Hojjatoleslam Masoud Maddah, citing internal documents and confessions, emphasized the terrorist nature of the MEK. He referenced Masoud Rajavi's negotiations with the head of the Iraqi intelligence service, in which Rajavi admitted to ties with the intelligence services of the US, UK, and France, and to carrying out terrorist acts such as the bombing of the Islamic Republic Party. The plaintiffs' lawyer also cited the confessions of Hossein Sheikh-ol-Hokama, the organization's military commander in East Tehran, which stated that the organization's policy was the assassination of even ordinary citizens to create terror and fear.
Referring to the group's placement on the US list of terrorist organizations until 2010 and the EU list until 2005, he called for the dissolution of its legal entity and the punishment of its leaders. Maddah argued that according to legal theories, even without official registration, a group with specific goals and structure can have a legal personality and be held responsible for crimes committed.
Later, an eyewitness to the bombing of the Islamic Republic Party headquarters on June 28, 1981, Hojjatoleslam Hossein Sobhaniania, detailed the event. He stated that the bombing was meticulously planned with the aim of eliminating key figures of the system, such as Martyr Beheshti, and described the role of Mohammadreza Kolahi as a key infiltrator and executor of the operation. Judge Dehghani, citing expert opinion, emphasized the foreign technology of the bomb used and the organized nature of the incident.
One of the main focuses of the session was addressing the charge of multiple airplane hijackings by the organization. The plaintiffs' lawyer reported on seven instances of hijacking, including the seizure of a Boeing 747 on July 6, 1983, with 371 passengers from Shiraz to Tehran, which was ultimately transferred to France and handed over to Masoud Rajavi. Legal representatives of the Civil Aviation Organization and Iran Air also presented their complaints, emphasizing the material and spiritual damages and the loss of trust in the country's airline routes.
Another witness, a former member of the organization named Eisa Azadeh, detailed one of these hijackings, describing the direct order from Masoud Rajavi and the role of members of the "resistance cells," claiming that the French government, despite convicting the perpetrators to prison, cooperated with the group by granting them asylum and early release.
In conclusion, Judge Dehghani announced the acceptance of the Civil Aviation Organization's request for a deferral to submit complaint documents, granting a 10-day deadline, and postponed the continuation of the trial to the next session on April 28.