The prosecution in Iran is demanding the death penalty for the Swedish diplomat Johan Floderus, who was arrested in Tehran in the spring of 2022. The international community must put clear pressure on the Islamist regime to get the 33-year-old released.
DRAWING: Roar Hagen / VG Saturday 3 February at 14:22 This is a leader. The leader expresses VG’s position. The editorials do not set guidelines for our news coverage.
Floderus is accused of espionage, of being in cahoots with the Israeli security service Mossad and of what the Iranian authorities call “corruption on earth”.
In the face of a civilized system of governance, the baseless accusations could have been dismissed as ridiculous. But the dark backdrop gives no reason for comedy. The Islamist clergy in Tehran is known for its merciless behavior.
The the Swedish EU diplomatwho has studied the Persian language Farsi at the University of Tehran, was arrested during a holiday trip with Iranian friends on April 17, 2022.
Neither the family nor the Swedish authorities received information about his whereabouts. Only after six weeks did Iran state that a Swedish citizen suspected of espionage had been arrested. It was to be five months before the Brussels-based diplomat was able to meet Sweden’s ambassador to Tehran.
EU DIPLOMAT: Johan Floderus was arrested during a holiday trip in Iran. Photo: TT / NTB
Amnesty International has reported that River rush has been badly treated in the notorious Evin prison in the country’s capital. He is said to have been subjected to isolation and so-called light torture.
The cell is brightly lit around the clock, which causes the inmate anxiety, pain and sleep difficulties. Last year’s recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, Narges Mohammadi, is also held in the same prison.
Even if it is unlikely that the death sentence will be carried outthe brutal treatment of the Swedish diplomat and the threat of being executed are clear violations of human rights.
However, it makes little impression on the regime that they show contempt for life and basic ethical principles.
Breaking international rules of the game is not something the Ayatollahs do exceptionally. That is the clergy’s modus operandi. That’s how they behave.
The arrest of Johan Floderus is probably an attempt to pressure Sweden to release a lifer Iranian torturer and murderer, Hamid Nouri, who is imprisoned in Sweden.
PRISON MEETING: Johan Floderus (33) arrives at the so-called Revolutionary Court in Tehran, accused of spying for Israel. Photo: AmirAbbas Ghasemi / AP / NTB
For many years, Nouri was a prosecutor in cases brought by the Iranian regime against oppositionists and dissidents. He was arrested at Arlanda airport five years ago according to what is called universal jurisdiction – a principle of international law that gives states the opportunity to arrest and punish persons for particularly serious crimes committed on foreign soil.
Universal jurisdiction covers genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, torture and terrorism. Nouri was internationally wanted and accused of just about all of this, and was convicted in 2019 of having been instrumental in the execution of more than 30,000 political prisoners.
In 2023, the charge was expanded to a further 100 murders linked directly to the Iranian jurist as well as a war crimes indictment.
The authorities in Tehran have condemned the Swedish trial, calling it “illegal” and “politically motivated”. The Iranian clergy claim that Hamid Nouri has been “kidnapped” by Sweden’s government.
Here the ayatollahs speak from solid personal experience.
Also read: Four men executed in Iran – convicted of spying for Israel