NUFDI: Iranian Dissidents & Former Hostages Announce Federal Lawsuit Against Ebrahim Raisi as he Arrives in NYC for UNGA

NEW YORK, Sept. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today at a private club in midtown Manhattan only hours after Ebrahim Raisi, President of the Islamic Republic in Iran arrived in Manhattan for the United Nations General Assembly, a group of his alleged victims announced a federal lawsuit against him for torture in the Southern District of New York. This historic lawsuit is the first case of dissidents and former hostages joining forces to launch a federal, civil case against an official of the regime in Iran.

The plaintiffs, represented by Iranian-American human rights attorney Shahin Milani, include former Shiraz City Councilor Mehdi Hajati, Australian academic and former hostage Dr. Kylie Moore-Gilbert, and academic, Belgian-resident and former hostage Hamid Babaei. Mr. Milani and the plaintiffs spoke to an overfilled room about Mr. Raisi's alleged crimes and their historic lawsuit. The press conference was attended by all major Persian language media outlets, news outlets from across the Middle East, and leading international press agencies.

Opening the press conference on behalf of NUFDI, the organization supporting the legal effort, Policy Director Cameron Khansarinia placed the lawsuit in the current political context as anti-regime protests spread across Iran remarking: "As Iranians are still mourning last week's brutal murder of the 22 year old Mahsa Amini, beaten into a coma and left braindead by the Islamic Republic's "morality police" for bad hejab-- it is a painfully poignant time for us to be gathered here today."

Attorney Shahin Milani added that: "This really is about [the plaintiffs] and Ebrahim Raisi who has committed egregious over several decades of his involvement with the Iranian system… and he is being sued under the Torture Victim's Protection Act."

Lead plaintiff in the case, Mehdi Hajati added: "I have gone through many hardships over these past years… Look at what tragic fate we are caught in that we have endured all this hardship and yet when we compare it to what happened to a fellow countryman, we consider it to be nothing and we are ashamed to even mention it."

Former hostage Kylie Moore-Gilbert added: "I am taking part in this lawsuit… in order to hold Ebrahim Raisi accountable for one injustice, my own, which he has had a hand in committing among the huge tide and flood of injustice that throughout his career as an official of the Islamic Republic of Iran he has committed…"

Fellow plaintiff Hamid Babaei described the circumstances: "We were kept in dire humanitarian conditions… we were denied healthcare… The sanitary conditions were really awful… There were only three bathrooms for 175 prisoners and they were extremely dirty… we were sleeping on the ground and the insects crawled everywhere and we were eaten by insects… and they sucked our blood."

Speaking at the event, former hostage held in Iran Nizar Zakka added: "I have never committed a crime in my life. I don't even have a traffic ticket… My only crime was accepting the invitation of this regime and I went with the hope that it will change and they intent to have good intentions for openness and the future… What I am saying is no government ever invited someone and took them hostage… not even in the Middle Ages… but [the Islamic Republic] did… and we cannot trust them."

NUFDI Advocacy Director and formerly the world's youngest detained journalist Navid Mohebbi added: "With this lawsuit the survivors and victims of the regime send a very clear message to the butchers of Tehran that you will never break our soul or our resilience and the fight for our human dignity is not one that we will lose."

The lawsuit will now proceed in the federal courts and will await Raisi's response. Raisi is currently in the United States with taxpayer funded security protection at the level of a sitting US Vice President. NUFDI will continue to pursue the cause of justice and mobilize the Iranian-American community to be a voice for the people of Iran.

NUFDI will continue to have press availability on this and ongoing Iran-related issues, including the growing anti-regime protests.

SOURCE NUFDI