Two judges have been shot dead in Islamic Regime’s supreme court
Ali Razini and Mohammad Moghiseh were killed after a gunman entered the court, in the capital Tehran, on Saturday morning, 18 January 2025.
The attacker killed himself while fleeing the scene, according to the judiciary’s news website, Mizan. A bodyguard was also injured in the attack.
The motive for the attack is unclear, but both judges are said to have played a role in the killing of hundreds of political prisoners since the 1980s and specially during the massacre of political prisoners in summer 1988, during which about 5000 political prisoners were executed across Iran by the order of the then supreme leader of the IRI, Ruhollah Khomieni.
Both have been in the judiciary for decades. In the supreme court, their responsibilities had included confirming death sentences.
Mohammad Moghiseh (Nasserian), 68, has been involved in mass execution of hundreds of political prisoners in Gohardasht (Rajaei) prison in the summer 1988. In the capacity of prosecutor assistant and supervisor of the prison, alongside Hamid Noury and Davood Lashkari (head of prison security), made sure that the “Death Commission”, members of which were elected by Khomeini, send as many prisoners as possible to the gallows. He also was involved in torture of prisoners alongside his colleagues Lashkari and Noury.
Hamid Noury was arrested in Stockholm Arlanda airport on 9 November 2019. In 2022, he was found guilty of war crimes and sentenced to life in prison for his role in1988 massacre in Gohardasht prison. At the time, his trial and subsequent conviction in Sweden were celebrated as significant steps for international justice. Hamid Noury was prosecutor assistant in Gohardasht prison, during the massacre of political prisoners in summer 1988.
Mogheiseh is describes as had “overseen countless unfair trials, during which charges went unsubstantiated and evidence was disregarded.”
He was also notorious for sentencing scores of journalists and internet users to lengthy prison terms. Mogheiseh had pressed charges against members of Iran’s Baha’i minority, just because they are Baha’is.
Razini, 71, was a member of “Death Commission” in Mashad. Like Moghiseh and almost all other religious judges in Iran, he has not studied law or trained as judge. He has sentenced hundreds of political prisoners to death and lengthy prison terms since 1980s.
Both were known as the most notorious judges of the Islamic Republic, whose hands were stained with the blood of hundreds of political prisoners.
In the Islamic Republic of Iran, people like these two, who committed more crimes in 1980s during the suppression of the opponents, not only were not hold accountable, but promoted to higher position in judiciary.
Razini had been targeted previously. In January 1999, attackers on motorcycles hurled an explosive at his vehicle, wounding him as he left work as the head of the judiciary in Tehran.