Iran Sweden prisoner swap war crimes executions 1988 convicted man freed National News.
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In a significant development on Saturday, Iran and Sweden carried out a prisoner swap that included the release of Hamid Nouri, who had been convicted of war crimes by Sweden in relation to the 1988 mass executions in Iran. This exchange also involved the release of Johan Floderus, a Swedish national working for the EU’s diplomatic corps, and another man identified as Saeed Azizi by Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.
The swap was facilitated by Oman, as reported by the state-run Oman News Agency. Iranian state television confirmed that Nouri had been released and was en route back to Tehran. Floderus and Azizi were also reported to be on their way to Sweden to reunite with their families, according to Kristersson’s announcement on the social platform X.
In 2022, the Stockholm District Court had sentenced Nouri to life imprisonment for his involvement in the 1988 mass executions. The court revealed that Nouri had served as an assistant to the deputy prosecutor at the Gohardasht prison near Karaj, Iran.
The mass executions in 1988 occurred at the end of Iran’s war with Iraq, following a surprise attack by the Iranian opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, supported by Saddam Hussein. This led to a series of sham retrials of political prisoners and militants known as “death commissions,” resulting in the deaths of thousands of individuals. Despite international pressure, Iran has never fully acknowledged these executions.
It is worth noting that the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who tragically passed away in a helicopter crash in May, was also implicated in the mass executions. The involvement of high-ranking officials in these events has been a subject of ongoing debate and scrutiny.
Floderus’ arrest in April 2022 at Tehran airport, while returning from a vacation, was seen as yet another instance of Iran using individuals with foreign or dual nationalities as bargaining chips in diplomatic negotiations. Azizi, a dual Iranian-Swedish national, had previously been sentenced to five years in prison by Tehran’s Revolutionary Court on charges related to national security, as reported by Human Rights Activists in Iran.
As this prisoner swap unfolds, the international community continues to monitor the implications and repercussions of such exchanges on diplomatic relations and human rights issues. The involvement of Oman as a mediator highlights the importance of third-party facilitation in resolving complex international disputes.
Contributions to this report were made by Associated Press writers Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, and Jari Tanner in Helsinki, Finland.
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Iran Sweden prisoner swap freeing man convicted war crimes executions 1988 war crimes executions..
