Arrest Warrant for Ali Fallahian, issued by the Judge of the German Federal Supreme Court in Karlsruhe
The arrest warrant for Ali Fallahian, [issued by] the judge of the German Federal Supreme Court in Karlsruhe:
Herren Strasse 45/A
Phone: 00497211690 Fax: 0049721169831
Arrest decree
Date: March 4, 1996
Case number: BGS 2/95-8 BJS295 1/92/96
The arrest and detention order of Ali Fallahian,Minister of Information and Security Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, is hereby issued. Said individual was born in 1948 in Najafabad and currently resides in Tehran, Iran (there is no more information about the accused person and his place of residence). Ali Fallahian is charged with maliciously murdering four people and intending to kill another person on September 17, 1992, in Berlin, together with other individuals and following nefarious intentions and with means that are a public danger.
This crime is punishable according to the text of articles 21, 25 and 31 of paragraphs 2 and 52 of the Criminal Code. On the occasion of the International Conference of Socialists in Berlin, which took place from September 14 to 18, 1992, the leaders of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran were also present in this city from September 14. Their names are Dr. Sadegh Sharafkandi (known as Dr. Saeed,) the general secretary of the party, Fattah Abdali and Homayoun Ardalan, party representatives in Europe and Germany. Another Iranian named Mohammad Pour-Dehkordi (known as Nouri,) who lived in exile in Berlin, accompanied and acted as a translator for the group.
From a political point of view, the Kurdistan Democratic Party is the most critical Kurdish organization in Iran. At the same time, it is one of the most vital groups opposing the Islamic Republic regime. The party and other opposition groups are engaged in a peaceful struggle.
On September 17, 1992, around 8:00 P.M., the people mentioned above gathered at the location where the Iranian opposition got together, at the Mykonos restaurant in Berlin, Platz Prager 2, to exchange political views with some representatives of the opposition groups. Around 10:30 P.M., eight remaining individuals and the restaurant's owner, Tabib Ghaffari, gathered in one of the secondary halls. Two men armed with a 9mm IMI Uzi and a 7.65 mm Alma seven-shooter entered and repeatedly shot and killed Dr. Sharafkandi, Abdulli, Ardalan, and Nouri, who were unaware of everything and did not expect such an attack. During this incident, a bullet hit Tabib Ghafari in the stomach, seriously injuring him.
On October 4, 1992, Abbas Rayel, a citizen of Lebanon, was identified and arrested as one of the shooters. His right hand palm print was discovered on the Alma revolver used during the assassination. He was arrested along with another Lebanese named Youssef Amin, who, according to his confessions in interrogation, was the lookout standing by the restaurant's front door during the assassination. Following the admission of these two defendants, an Iranian citizen named Kazem Darabi, who, according to Amin, was the group's chief and financial backer, was arrested on October 18, 1992. Judicial trials against the three people and two others who were most likely their accomplices and collaborators started on October 28, 1993, in Criminal Court Number One.
The accused Fallahian, who participated in the assassination attempt, as one of the perpetrators of the crime on September 17, 1992, is described as follows: The named individual was in charge of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran both now and during the planning and implementation of the assassination attempt. Said Ministry itself has an intelligence network called VEVAK which is closely related to the Revolutionary Guards and especially to the group known as "Quds Forces." One of the characteristics of the Islamic Republic in dealing with opposition groups and individuals is that it not only declares such groups to be dissolved, but pursues and hunts their leaders outside the country's borders.
Fallahian himself emphasized this in the Iranian state television program broadcast on August 30, 1992, stating that the Kurdistan Democratic Party was a "minor group" that was pursued by the Ministry: "... We are security support that works against counter-revolutionary groups. We have succeeded in breaking into the organizational core of these groups and have arrested most of their people. In general, currently, the groups above are not active inside the country because we have forced them to flee the country. We have also expanded the scope of our activities, placed them under surveillance, and continued hunting them down abroad. We have infiltrated their organizational cores and are aware of their activities. We have also managed to deliver blows to many of these groups at the borders and outside the borders.
As you know, one of these active groups is the Kurdistan Democratic Party. We have dealt significant blows to their members in the past year. We have also dealt severe blows to the party’s primary and auxiliary organizations, reducing their activities.”
Persecution of opposition groups and their representatives involves their physical destruction. An example is the murder of the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party on July 13, 1989, in Shahrvin. On that day, the former Secretary General of the party, Dr. Qassemlou, and another party representative, Qaderi Azar, were shot dead by members of the delegation during secret negotiations with a commission from the Iranian government. The Austrian judicial authorities have issued an arrest warrant against the members above. One of the members of this group, Amin Jafari Sahraroudi, is currently working as the Deputy Commander of the Revolutionary Guards. The “Quds Forces” members are employed to fight the regime's opponents and carry out assassinations.
The elimination of opposition forces by the Iranian government abroad is not exceptional, and the following cases prove the veracity of this claim:
On December 6, 1994, and June 16, 1995, the Paris Court of Justice sentenced a total of eight Iranians to long sentences and life imprisonment for the crime of participating in the August 6, 1991, murder of Shapour Bakhtiar, the former Prime Minister of Iran, in Paris.
The referred judgement issued on March 31, 1994, is, on the one hand, implicitly comparable to the initial judgement of the court according to the German judicial laws, but on the other hand, contrary to it, it is more substantive and verified; it is implied that in the planning, preparation and implementation of this crime, the employees of many institutions of the Iranian government, such as the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs, the Iranian Television Organization and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, were involved. According to witness statements from the court, two said employees were Ministry of Information employees. In other words, they collaborate closely with the Guards.
On July 16, 1987, Iranian chief pilot Ali Mohammadi was shot dead by unknown individuals in Hamburg. Another opposition member named Javadi (Gholam Keshavarz N.) was shot dead in Cyprus on August 26, 1989. In both cases, the killers' weapons and silencers were discovered. Comparative tests between them and the silencers used during the Mykonos attack clearly show that their manufacturing and processing characteristics match. Therefore, it is evident that eliminating opposition members is one of the duties of the Ministry of Information and Security and its related departments, especially the VEVAK intelligence network and the Quds Forces. The general manager of this organization is Ali Fallahian, also a member of the National Security Council. In this council, the execution and completion of such measures are discussed, and decisions are made. The strong suspicion that the incident on September 17, 1992, was ordered by the Iranian authorities is based on much information that has been obtained in this regard:
• In the confession that was recorded in the presence of the court judge. In the case, one of the defendants, Amin, talked about the conversation between the people involved in this incident. During this confession, it was clearly stated that Iran was "behind this incident" and would support the perpetrators should they be arrested.
• An Iranian citizen named Kazem Darabi is the person who pursued the lead and was the link between the Iranian commanders and the Hezbollah parties who directly carried out this assassination attempt. According to the information obtained by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Berlin’s State Office and the British espionage headquarters, he is an agent of Iran's espionage organization, i.e., VEVAK, and a member of the Revolutionary Guards. As a result, Fallahian is one of the defendants. According to Amin's confession recorded in the case, before moving into Seftenberger Ring #7, the assassins resided in Darabi’s second house in Detmolder Strasse, 64.
• According to the statement given to the police authorities by the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the employees of the Ministry of the accused (Fallahian), in other words, the employees of the spy network who are under his supervision, were directly involved in the Berlin incident.
• Two of the defendants, namely Amin and Rayel, who carried out this crime, completed a specialized course at the training facilities of the Revolutionary Guards during their cooperation with Hezbollah, which Iran supports.
• Since Haider, the driver of the car in which the perpetrators of the crime fled, escaped from Germany and ended up in Iran, an arrest warrant was issued against him.
• Ali Sabra, the buyer of the car mentioned above, who is a fugitive, was seen by a witness in Beirut when he entered the Hezbollah command center after he disappeared from Germany. One of the weapons used during the September 17, 1992 assassination attempt belongs to the Imperial Army of Iran.
• One of the perpetrators of this crime insulted his victims in Farsi before killing them in the Mykonos restaurant.
• Talebani, the leader of Iraqi Kurds and friend of Dr. Sharafkandi, informed the German police officials the night after this incident that this crime was committed "by Iran." According to the individual mentioned above, the plans for this crime were revealed after several members of the Revolutionary Guards were arrested by the Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga in August 1992. He added that a few weeks before carrying out the assassination, he informed Dr. Sharafkandi about Iran's plans and warned him.
The charge of cooperation in this crime against Fallahian is confirmed in the court hearings according to the statements of one of the witnesses, Schmidtbauer Bernd, the advisor to the German government in intelligence-security affairs. He emphasized that Fallahian repeatedly tried to prevent the trials related to the Mykonos issue from taking place by putting pressure on the German government.
A detailed investigation of the final communications and the background and factors of this incident (including the issues of concern to Iran, the way Iranian authorities deal with the opponents of the regime, planning and logistical measures in Iran, the implementation of the September 17, 1992 plan and the involvement of people who are directly or indirectly involved in this crime), leads to the strong suspicion that Fallahian, as the official of the Ministry concerned and as a member of the National Security Council, on the basis of his position of command and facilities, was responsible for the September 17, 1992 crime and had a hand in it. The evidence and testimonies that strengthen this suspicion are based on the witness and expert testimonies during the interrogations and investigations in numerous court sessions. Among the evidence and documents that have been obtained are the statements of one of the defendants, namely Amin, and witnesses such as Grunewald (employee of the Federal Department for the Protection of the Constitution,) Anousek (employee of the State Department for the Protection of the Constitution,) Professor Dr. Ganji, Ostrowits (Criminal Affairs Police in Vienna,) Professor Dr. Steinbach (Institute of Oriental Studies in Hamburg) and Ben Stein (employee of the Federal Office of Crime and Misdemeanors) about silencer weapons, exist. Also, documents which were examined, especially the judgment of the Paris jury dated December 6, 1992, June 16, 1995, and March 31, 1994, the "assassination order" of Professor Ganji, as well as the related notice issued by the Federal Intelligence Organization on December 8, 1994, and finally the detention orders issued by the Vienna Court, strengthen and confirm the above suspicion. The said crime was committed in a mercenary fashion, and the features of intentional murder are observed in the case. The accused (Fallahian,) by following the basest desires and inclinations, has voluntarily considered himself a rogue agent, with the power of life and death of others.
This crime was committed using tools that are dangerous to everyone. Of course, we think that a machine gun can be a dangerous weapon for the public under certain conditions. But on the other hand, it should not be overlooked that many people who had nothing to do with this incident were put in danger by the use of the machine gun brought along for this purpose. If someone with such a weapon shoots directly at specific people who are in a closed space where other people are present, they cannot specifically target their victims. Such an interpretation is consistent with the decision of the Federal Supreme Court, issued on February 13, 1985. Another finding of the court above, issued on September 1, 1992, does not contradict the above interpretation; because there, only the legality of a bullet fired with a revolver, not a machine gun, is raised for discussion and decision. Therefore, according to Article 12 of Paragraph 32 of the Criminal Law, sufficient reasons exist to issue Fallahian’s detention warrant. Based on the legal interpretation of the article above and the paragraph, the preconditions explained below should be considered. Clearly, the accused, Fallahian, will not voluntarily turn himself over to the court. On the other hand, without his arrest, it will not be possible to prosecute and punish the perpetrators of this crime quickly. Therefore, the plan is to capture and detain Fallahian to find out the truth of the matter, and to that end, the following should be done:
A- Iranian government officials and the ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran have repeatedly denied the accusation of Fallahian's involvement in this crime. This matter, as well as the fact that Fallahian is a member of the Iranian government and his permanent residence (at least for now) is in Iran, will result in him not appearing in the court hearings. Instead, he will devote all his efforts to saving himself from this court. However, the immunity that the said person enjoys as one of the representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran will be limited whenever he goes to Germany based on an official invitation.
At any time, if the hypothetical conditions do not exist, Fallahian will be subject to German judicial laws. Beyond that, he may also be arrested in a third country. In that case, his handover to the German government can only occur based on an arrest warrant.
B- The hearings of the main trials of the Mykonos case, which have been held since October 28, 1993, in the Criminal Court Number One of the Berlin Court of Justice, had yielded numerous shreds of evidence and proof that the witnesses who were close to the accused and whom themselves have a direct relationship with Hezbollah, were, before their testimony in the court, strongly manipulated to deny or not repeat the statements that they made in the previous interrogations to the detriment of the accused. For this reason, the Criminal Court has exempted two witnesses from testifying in the court session due to threats of death and bodily harm. The statements of the expert Professor Dr. Steinbach, in his written letter dated April 5, 1993, about the relationship between Iran and Hezbollah and Fallahian's televised speech on August 3, 1992, as well as the issues of concern to Iran and finally the statements of the accused Amin in the presence of the Investigating Judge of the Federal Supreme Court, are proof of this fact. They believe that such acts of influence were carried out by Iran or at the persuasion of that country, and this guess is based on the fact that Fallahian, who is directly responsible for this crime, was also involved in such manipulations. As a result, there is a suspicion that the mentioned person will do his best to blur the issues surrounding this event.
C- Based on such circumstances, the question should be raised separately about whether Fallahian will commit another such crime. The murder of one of Iran's former diplomats, Kazem Rajavi, on April 14, 1990, in Geneva, and the murder of Shapour Bakhtiar, the former Prime Minister of Iran, on August 16, 1991, in Paris, and the murder of the head of the Italian branch of the National Council of Resistance, on March 16, 1993, in Rome, all occurred during Fallahian's tenure and as far as the evidence is concerned, all took place under the Ministry’s authorities.
D-) Considering the seriousness of the above crimes and accusations, the order to arrest him is appropriate and warranted.
Signature: Doctor West (Federal Supreme Court Judge)