International Community Must Demand Immediate Release of Swedish Academic Facing Execution in Iran

New Audi File Released From Prison: “Swedish Authorities Have Abandoned Me”

Sweden Should Rally Global Action to Free Ahmadreza Djalali, Imprisoned Since 2016

Governments Must Work Together to End Iran’s Hostage Taking, Many Dual and Foreign Nationals Remain in Iran’s Prisons

January 15, 2025 — The international community must forcefully demand that Iran immediately and unconditionally releases Dr. Ahmadreza Djalali, the Iranian-Swedish academic and disaster medicine expert who has been unjustly imprisoned in Iran since 2016 and faces execution, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) said today.

As Dr. Djalali is a Swedish citizen, the Swedish government has a direct responsibility to protect its own citizens, and it should make vigorous and persistent efforts to rally the international community behind Dr. Djalali’s release. His life depends on proactive measures to exert diplomatic pressure on the Iranian authorities, CHRI added.

“Djalali’s wrongful imprisonment and death sentence—and Iran’s continued abduction of dual and foreign nationals, who are held as hostages to be used as political and financial bargaining chips—is an international outrage and violation of the most basic elements of international law and order,” said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of CHRI.

“Governments worldwide must together impose serious consequences on Iran aimed at securing the immediate release of Djalali and all the other dual and foreign nationals unlawfully imprisoned in Iran, and ensure that Iran does not dare to continue this heinous and criminal practice of hostage taking,” Ghaemi said.

CHRI urgently calls upon:

• The Swedish government to prioritize Djalali’s non-negotiable release in all engagements with Iran, and to leverage international forums to rally support for Dr. Djalali’s freedom, including at the UN and amongst European Union (EU) states.
• The UN, the EU, and governments worldwide to intensify diplomatic pressure on Iran for Djalali’s release and to impose severe consequences for Iran’s actions, including intensified diplomatic isolation and sanctions against officials involved in Djalali’s case.
• The international community to commit to greatly intensified multilateral pressure on Iran to end its practice of taking dual and foreign nationals hostage as bargaining chips.

In a newly released audio message recorded from Tehran’s Evin Prison on January 14, 2025, Dr. Djalali, who is a Swedish citizen, said the Swedish government had “abandoned” him. The following are excerpts from his message: 

“Eight years and nine months have passed since I was detained in Evin Prison. I have been in this terrifying cell for 3,185 days without any furlough. …My son was only four years old when I was arrested. Now he’s 13. After nearly nine terrifying years, I suffer from several illnesses, such as bone and skin disease, gallbladder issues, nerve pain, [and critical heart issues].

“Swedish authorities are aware of my situation, but nothing has been done to improve it. It appears that what is happening to me as a Swedish citizen is not important to Swedish authorities. I am facing death, either by execution or as a result of my illnesses.

“In the past nine years, Swedish authorities have ignored all the resolutions and statements issued by the UN, the Human Rights Council, and their experts, as well as Amnesty International, the EU parliament, academics and researchers, and the hundreds of thousands of signatures gathered from around the world in connection with my terrifying situation and the torture I am going through.

“[The Swedish authorities] …say they are following my case, but in reality, nothing has been done for my return back home. I remain without support despite the possibility that the worst thing could happen to me at any time – that is I could be executed. I have been left alone here. I call on the Swedish authorities to redouble their efforts so that I can return home after 3,185 days.”

Illegal Abduction, Torture, Imprisonment, and Death Sentence

On April 24, 2016, Ahmadreza Djalali, a disaster medical response expert living in Sweden with his wife and two children, was arrested in Tehran by Intelligence Ministry agents. Despite being officially invited by Tehran University to share his expertise, he was detained and subjected to months of interrogation in solitary confinement at Evin Prison’s notorious Ward 209.

Dr. Djalali was sentenced to death for “corruption on earth” in 2017 following a grossly unfair trial based on coerced confessions extracted under torture. Over the past nine years, he has endured torture, prolonged solitary confinement, severe physical and psychological abuse, and denial of urgent medical care.

In an August 2017 letter written from prison, Dr. Djalali detailed the torture he was subjected to in prison, aimed at extracting a false “confession” of espionage, as well as threats against his children and his mother.

Dr. Djalali’s health has severely deteriorated during his imprisonment. UN experts have described his condition as “truly horrific,” citing medical neglect that has left him unable to eat properly, resulting in significant weight loss and making him so weak that he struggles to speak. 

The Islamic Republic has a documented pattern of denying medical care to foreign or dual nationals to leverage political negotiations through hostage diplomacy.

“Djalali’s plight underscores the urgent need for the international community to confront Iran’s reliance on hostage diplomacy targeting foreign and dual nationals. The time to act is now—to save Djalali’s life and to let Iran know human lives are not bargaining chips,” Ghaemi added.