samedi 8 janvier 2022

Iran: Families of Victims of Downed Plane Demand Justice

 The families of passengers on the Ukrainian flight PS752, shot down by the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) two years ago, gathered at Tehran’s Airport and the crash site on Saturday demanding justice.

They held pictures of their loved ones and chanted “Truth, Justice”. “Justice is not negotiable! We stand firm to bring to justice the criminals in an impartial court.” They said their campaign for justice will continue until the regime’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and IRGC commanders are held to account. A father, who said he had lost four children, insisted that he will not rest until the criminals responsible are brought to justice.

Terrified of a backlash, the State Security Forces attempted to intimidate the families by flying helicopters over their gathering but was met with defiant chants of “get lost” by those present.

At another gathering in Tehran, the families also held placards reading, “Justice is not negotiable,” “truth should not be sacrificed for political expediency,” and “the end does not justify the means.”

The families subsequently went to the crash site in southwest of the capital where they were joined by locals who chanted “Truth, Justice.”

Families of Flight PS752 victims mark second anniversary at Tehran airporthttps://youtu.be/ZNbri6IQ6Q4

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), expressed her “deepest sympathies to the families of the victims of victims of the downed Ukraine flight who have been persistently seeking justice for two years.”

“Those responsible for this heinous crime are the same officials involved in four decades of massacres, torture and executions. The people of Iran want to see Khamenei, Raisi, and IRGC commanders brought to justice”, she said.

On Friday, families of the victims in Canada met with Canadian officials including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly.

“We asked Iran to commit to negotiations by January 5. We received a negative response. Canada and its allies will not stand for this affront to the memories of the 176 victims of flight PS752. The Group will now focus on actions to resolve this in accordance with international law,” Joly said in a tweet.

After three days of total secrecy and contradictory statements following the downing of the plane, the regime attempted to close the case by artificially accepting responsibility by invoking “human error.”

In the beginning, the regime promised to send the black box abroad, but as the crisis intensified it shifted its position and brazenly declared that it would not deliver the black box because it feared that the regime’s leader in this horrific crime would be revealed. particularly because of the importance of the black box in disclosing the secrets of this great crime and possibility of more clarification of the regime’s role in downing the plane.

The Canadian government carried out its own investigation in 2020 and came to the conclusion that the regime was criminally responsible. Last May, Justice Edward Belobaba ruled that “the missile attacks were intentional” and that “the shooting down of the civilian aircraft constituted terrorist activity under applicable federal law.”

In a ruling in a Canadian court on Monday, January 2, the Iranian regime was ordered to pay $84 million to the families of the 85 Canadian victims who lost their lives.

The Iranian regime has not allowed an independent investigation by other countries, including Ukraine.

Ukraine’s National Defense and Security Council Secretary expressed his frustration with what he said was Iran’s refusal to cooperate in investigating and providing compensation for the downing of Ukrainian International Airlines Flight PS752. In an interview on Wednesday, January 4, he said, “What happened on January 8th, 2020, was a terrorist act committed against a civilian aircraft.”

Canada, Britain, Sweden, and Ukraine said on Thursday, January 5, they had abandoned efforts to talk to Tehran about reparations will try to settle the matter according to international law.

Most of the 176 passengers were citizens from those four countries, which has created a Coordination Group that seeks to hold Tehran to account.

“Despite our best efforts over the past two years and multiple attempts to resolve this matter through negotiations, the Coordination Group has determined that further attempts to negotiate with Iran … are futile,” it said in a statement.

“The Coordination Group will now focus on subsequent actions to take to resolve this matter in accordance with international law,” it added.

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