Sweden’s Prisoner Swap with Iran is Shameful Reward for Tehran’s Hostage Taking

Hamid Nouri, Convicted of Crimes Against Humanity for Role in Massacre of Thousands of Prisoners, Walks Free

Many Foreign and Dual Nationals Still Languish in Iran’s Prisons

June 15, 2024—The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) strongly condemns Sweden’s prisoner swap with Iran, in which Sweden freed Hamid Nouri, an Iranian convicted of crimes against humanity, for Swedish EU official Johan Floderus and Swedish citizen Saeed Azizi, who were both illegally abducted and held in Iran. The deal rewards the Islamic Republic for its hostage taking and encourages Iran to continue its lucrative hostage trade.

“Bilateral deals that countries make with the Islamic Republic to free foreign and dual nationals who were illegally abducted and imprisoned by Iran for use as bargaining chips send a clear message to Tehran: take our citizens and then name your price, we’ll pay,” said Hadi Ghaemi, CHRI Executive Director.

“It is a grotesque miscarriage of justice for Nouri, who was involved in Iran’s 1988 massacre of 5,000+ prisoners, to walk free. The deal released two unlawfully imprisoned Swedish citizens and left untouched many foreign and dual nationals still languishing in Iran’s prisons,” Ghaemi said.

CHRI calls on all governments who have nationals held in the Islamic Republic to refrain from making any bilateral prisoner deals with Iran, and to instead demand a forceful multilateral response to Iran’s hostage taking that does not reward the Islamic Republic’s criminal behavior in any way, as is urged by the Declaration Against Arbitrary Detention in State-to-State Relations that has been signed by dozens of countries.

Nouri was handed a life sentence for crimes against humanity after being detained in Sweden in 2019 for his role in the Islamic Republic’s 1988 prison massacres, in which at least 5,000 prisoners who had already been issued prison sentences and were serving their time were extra-judicially executed in mass hangings. The families of the victims of the 1988 killings continue to be persecuted by the Islamic Republic for trying to seek answers regarding the fate and burial places of their loved ones.

The EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell reportedly thanked Swedish authorities for their efforts regarding the prisoner swap—even while other EU citizens remain arbitrarily and unlawfully detained in Iran. Instead of thanking Sweden, Borrell should have urged all EU countries to eschew any bilateral prisoner deals with Iran.

The two Swedish citizens released in the swap were both abducted and imprisoned illegally in Iran. The Islamic Republic has now amassed a long and extensive record of abducting dual and foreign nationals, and holding them prisoner for use as bargaining chips to extract financial gain from other countries or to force the release of Iranian prisoners held legally in other countries after being tried and convicted for crimes after fair trials with full due process rights.

Floderus is a Swedish EU official who had been held in an Iranian prison for more than two years, and Saeed Azizi, also a Swedish citizen, was arrested by Iran in November 2023.

“As long as countries continue to reward Iran for this outrageous and criminal behavior, which has destroyed the lives of so many innocent dual and foreign nationals, we can expect the Iranian authorities to continue to seize and imprison more individuals,” said Ghaemi. “Clearly, it pays.”