A Swedish diplomat who was residing in Brussels before he was detained in Iran for more than two years has been released in a prison exchange, Sweden’s Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, announced.
Swedish EU diplomat Johan Floderus, a 33-year-old who had lived in Brussels from 2016 until he was unjustly detained two years ago, has been released by Tehran together with his compatriot Saeed Azizi, Kristersson announced on social media on Saturday afternoon.
"Swedish citizens Johan Floderus and Saeed Azizi were released after being imprisoned in Iran for no reason," the Swedish Prime Minister wrote on X. "The Swedish government worked hard for their release. Today they will land on Swedish soil and will reunite with their families and loved ones."
Swedish citizens Johan Floderus and Saeed Azizi have been released after being imprisoned without reason by Iran.
The Swedish government has worked intensively for them to be released. Today, they will land on Swedish soil and be reunited with their families and loved ones.… — SwedishPM (@SwedishPM) June 15, 2024
Floderus was arrested at Tehran airport in April 2022 when he wanted to return home after a tourist visit. He has been in Evin prison ever since. The European Union argued that he had been picked up to serve as a bargaining chip in a future prison exchange.
Belgian former aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele, who himself spent 455 days in an Iranian prison before being released in May last year, previously campaigned for Floderus’ release. In Brussels, slogans for the #FreeJohanFloderus campaign adorned the façade of the Flagey building in Ixelles, among others.
One Swedish citizen still imprisoned
This move follows Iran’s disclosure of the release of Iranian Hamid Noury, a former prison official who has been serving a life sentence in Sweden, where he has been imprisoned since 2019. He will soon be returning to Iran, the head of Iran's Supreme Human Rights Council, Kazem Gharibabadi, wrote on social media.
The 63-year-old Noury was detained at Stockholm airport in 2019 after police received complaints about him from Iranian dissidents in Sweden – laws in Sweden enable the prosecution of citizens for overseas crimes. He was convicted of "serious crimes against international law" and "murder" by a court of first instance in July 2022.
Another Swedish citizen, the Iranian-Swedish VUB professor Ahmadreza Djalali, remains imprisoned in Iran since April 2016 after visiting Teheran to participate in a workshop in disaster medicine.
Today 52 and married with two children, he was accused of cooperation with hostile states and espionage for Israel but no evidence was ever presented to support the allegations. He was sentenced to death in October 2017. UN observers stated that the trial was unfair and called on Iran to cancel the death sentence and release him immediately.
His case is similar to that of Floderus but still different. Both Djalali and Florerus were falsely accused of espionage. Djalali has been imprisoned since 2016 and faces imminent execution. He was expected to be released first in a prisoner exchange but both Belgium and Sweden prioritized their own citizens before a national with double citizenship.
