Swedish PM demands immediate release of EU employee jailed in Iran

Swedish EU employee Johan Floderus attends a court session in Tehran, Iran, December 10, 2023. Amir-abbas Ghasemi/MIZAN/WANA (West Asia News Agency) Handout via REUTERS

Source: X07016

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Monday demanded the immediate release of Swedish European Union employee Johan Floderus from prison in Iran.

Floderus was arrested in Iran in 2022. Iran said on Sunday it had begun a trial of the Swedish national, having charged him with spying for Israel and "corruption on earth," a crime that carries the death penalty.

"He is entirely arbitrarily detained," Kristersson told a press conference. "We demand his immediate release."

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Relations between Sweden and Iran have been tense since 2019, when Sweden arrested a former Iranian official, Hamid Noury, on suspicion of torture and executions of political prisoners in Iran in the 1980s.

A Swedish district court in 2022 found Noury guilty of the charges. Noury appealed the case, and an appeals court ruling is expected next week.

This article was produced by Reuters news agency. It has not been edited by Global South World.

By Reuters