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Politics

Tehran Trial Into Downing Of Ukrainian Airliner Brings No Hope For Justice

December 21, 2022
Shohreh Mehrnami
4 min read
Iran’s judiciary has put on trial 10 people, but it has refused to divulge any details about the case.
Iran’s judiciary has put on trial 10 people, but it has refused to divulge any details about the case.
Maryam Malek, 40, is one of the 176 victims of the downing of UIA Flight 752.
Maryam Malek, 40, is one of the 176 victims of the downing of UIA Flight 752.
Her father, Khosro Malek, says the Iranian authorities are “fully determined to…do a snow job on a complex and big case with national and international ramifications before the third anniversary of the incident.”
Her father, Khosro Malek, says the Iranian authorities are “fully determined to…do a snow job on a complex and big case with national and international ramifications before the third anniversary of the incident.”

Nearly three years ago, on January 8, 2020, Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired two missiles at a Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) passenger plane shortly after it took off from Tehran. All 176 people onboard UIA Flight 752 were killed, including 29 children.

As the families and friends of the victims are seeking the truth and justice, the judiciary has put on trial 10 people, but it has refused to divulge any details about the case, including the names of the defendants. The closed-door hearings have been held without any transparency toward the victims’ families.

Relatives of some of the victims attended the fifth hearing in Tehran on December 19 as plaintiffs and protested the irregularities in the judicial process.

A Case based on a Theory of Negligence and “Human Error”

The father of one of the victims, 40-year-old Maryam Malek, tells IranWire that the trial is nothing but the continuation of a “murder project” that started with the shooting of the passenger jet.

The court has not taken a single step toward revealing the truth about the tragedy or toward serving accountability, Khosro Malek says, adding that the judiciary has put all its efforts into confirming the false theory that negligence and “human error” committed by low-level army personnel were responsible.

“They are fully determined to…do a snow job on a complex and big case with national and international ramifications before the third anniversary of the incident,” Malek says.

“They control everything, and they would do anything to prove that the firing on the plane was simply a human error.”

The father says the victims’ families are pessimistic about how this case is being handled. Otherwise, high-ranked commanders from the unit responsible for the attack would have been dismissed, their legal protection would have been lifted and they would have been sent to court.

According to Malek, no independent experts have investigated the case.

Meanwhile, the judiciary wants the families to get tired and stop pressing for justice, Malek says, adding that the court has held three hearings in only four days, making it difficult for the families to prepare and attend the sessions.

“We want the World to hear our Voice”

Malek says the trial is being held behind closed doors with the judiciary’s news agency Mizan filming the court proceedings. This news agency has published only selected parts of these proceedings to show the world that the Iranian government is taking the matter seriously.

“We want the world to hear our voice and know that this court is doing nothing to deliver truth and justice,” he insists.

He says that only 10 low-level military personnel are among the accused, for example “the commander of the air defense unit that fired at the plane.”

He believes that the court is planning to convict the defendants for committing an “error” and for “violating the procedures,” which carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison. And since the defendants have been in detention for three years, they would be released after the verdict is issued.

Mizan has reported that all 10 defendants are members of the military, but it is unclear in which branch of the armed forces they serve.

A few hours before the start of the third court session on December 15, the Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims issues a statement denouncing a “show trial.”

“The Islamic Republic intends to close this blood-stained file in silence and at a time when the West is in holidays,” it said, adding that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and many others among the highest ranks of the clerical regime are “the real culprits behind this crime and must be put on trial.”

It also noted that the victims’ families have “endured and resisted nearly three years of persecution, intimidation, threats, and sometimes deceitful offers of compensation.”

The association has formally complained to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, accusing the Islamic Republic of having deliberately killed civilians” and of having committed “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity.”

On May 20, 2021, the Superior Court of Justice in Ontario, Canada, ruled the downing of Flight PS752 an “act of terrorism” and an “intentional” attack. It awarded the families of six victims $107 million.

UIA Flight 752 was shot down by two IRGC surface-to-air missiles after taking off from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport.

The victims included citizens of Iran, Canada, Ukraine, Sweden, Afghanistan, and the United Kingdom. Of the 167 passengers, 138 were travelling to Canada via Ukraine, including 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents.

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