A Swedish court on Thursday sentenced a former Iranian official to life in prison for his part in the mass execution and torture of political prisoners in the 1980s.

Hamid Noury, 61, who was arrested at a Stockholm airport in 2019, was charged with war crimes for the mass execution and torture of political prisoners at the Gohardasht prison in Karaj, Iran, in 1988. 

Handing down its conviction and sentence, the Stockholm District Court said Noury, who it said was an assistant to the deputy prosecutor at the prison, had "jointly and in collusion with others been involved in the executions," which it described as a "serious crime against international law".

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Iran condemned the verdict. "Iran is absolutely certain that Noury's sentence was politically motivated and it has no legal validity," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said in a statement.

Human rights groups have put the number executed on government orders at around 5,000, while speculating that the real number could be higher. Iran has never acknowledged the killings.

Noury, who denied the charges, is the only person so far to face trial over the purge that targeted members of the Iranian People's Mujahideen, which was fighting in parts of Iran, as well as other political dissidents.

His lawyer was not immediately available for a comment. Noury can appeal.

Jubilant cheers

The verdict was met by jubilant cheers from hundreds of exiled Iranians who had gathered at the court.

The case has soured relations between the two countries, with Iran calling the trial illegal. Under Swedish law, courts can try Swedish citizens and other nationals for crimes against international law committed abroad.

Shortly before the trial ended in May, Iranian media reported Swedish-Iranian researcher Ahmadreza Djalali, sentenced to death on charges of spying for Israel, would be executed. Sweden also said on May 6 that a Swedish tourist also had been detained in Iran.