Iran The Iranian arrests

Evin prison in Tehran. Wikimedia Commons/Ehsan  

 

Iran The Iranian arrests  

New York Times: Swedish EU employee has been imprisoned in Tehran for over 500 days  

 

A Swedish man in his 30s has been imprisoned in Iran for over 500 days. Before the man was arrested, he had several EU assignments, reveals the New York Times. The newspaper describes it as his professional career as an EU employee making the case stand out compared to similar arrests.  

 

According to the informants, the man was arrested in connection with a private holiday in Iran. He was stopped at the airport when he was about to fly out of Tehran. He is now being held in the infamous Evin prison in the Iranian capital.  

 

The EU states that it is following the case closely. The Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not want to comment in detail, but confirms that an arrest took place in April 2022. In an email, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs writes that they are working "intensively" on the case.  

 

"We understand that there is interest in this issue, but in our assessment, it would make the handling of the case more difficult if the department were to discuss its actions publicly," writes UD to the New York Times.  

 

Swedish media have reported on the case, but the New York Times describes it as the arrest having been kept secret for over a year by Swedish and EU authorities. In May, Kalla Fakta revealed that the man may have been arrested to make an exchange with Hamid Noury, who was sentenced to life in prison for murder and crimes against humanity.  

 

 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UD, in central Stockholm. Fredrik Sandberg/TT 

 

UD: Arbitrarily detained - must be released immediately  

 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Swedish embassy in Tehran are working "very intensively" to free the 30-year-old Swede who is arrested in Iran. This is stated by the Foreign Ministry in an email to Omni after the New York Times revealed that the Swede was imprisoned in Tehran for over 500 days.  

 

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs maintains almost daily contact with the family. The Swedish citizen is arbitrarily deprived of his liberty and must therefore be released immediately. This has been reported to the Iranian authorities," writes the Foreign Ministry.  

 

Otherwise, the Foreign Ministry does not want to go into further details because "the assessment is that the work on the case is made more difficult by the Foreign Ministry publicly talking about what we are doing."  

 

According to the New York Times, the Swede has had several assignments in the EU. The newspaper describes it as the Swedish and EU authorities have worked on the case under great secrecy.