Iran urges Sweden to immediately release jailed ex-official, pay him reparations

Iranian parliament's deputy speaker has expressed grave concern over human rights violations committed against former Iranian official Hamid Nouri by Swedish authorities, calling on the Nordic country to immediately release him and compensate for damages caused to him.

In his remarks on Wednesday, Ali Nikzad denounced Stockholm for detaining the former Iranian judiciary official, who has been incarcerated in Sweden since 2019, “without a thorough investigation”.

The charges brought up against Nouri, according to Iranian government officials and independent human rights bodies, are based on bogus and flimsy claims made by some members of the Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO), an anti-Iran terrorist group. 

Swedish authorities, Nikzad stressed, have breached the principle of innocent-until-proven-guilty and the Iranian citizen’s right to freedom of movement.

• ‘Disgrace’ for Sweden's human rights as Nouri barred from meeting family, held in solitary for 32 months

The senior Iranian lawmaker went on to note that Sweden hasn’t fulfilled its responsibility under the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations by the virtue of which it must have informed Iran's embassy of the arrest, neither did it notify Nouri’s family about his situation.

Nikzad expressed regret that Nouri’s family members have not been allowed to visit him during their two trips to the European country since 2019.

The Iranian parliament “urges the Swedish government to stop further violations [of human rights], hold the perpetrators to account, swiftly release him and make up for the spiritual and material damages inflicted on him", he said.

The senior lawmaker also called on Iran's judiciary and foreign ministry to use all means at their disposal to pursue Nouri’s case and secure his freedom.

‘Sweden should abandon politics through lens of anti-Iran MKO’

Meanwhile, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman said the country's embassy in Stockholm and the ministry have been seriously pursuing the matter to ensure Nouri's release.

“We believe that the Iranian citizen’s detention lacks judicial basis, and unfortunately the political hype of a hostile and terrorist group provided the basis for his illegal incarceration in Sweden,” Nasser Kan’ani told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday.

He highlighted the need for serious attention by the Swedish side toward Nouri’s deteriorating health condition. 

“The [Iranian] foreign ministry is in contact with Sweden. During last week’s telephone conversation between [foreign minister Hossein] Amir-Abdollahian and his Swedish counterpart [Ann Linde], the legal and basic rights of the [jailed] Iranian national, including access to medical treatment and a lawyer as well as family contacts, were specifically underscored,” Kan’ani noted.

• Former Iranian official jailed in Sweden put in solitary confinement for 30 months: Wife

“The Swedish government is expected to put aside its political views through the lens of an anti-Iran group, and quickly prepare the ground for the release of the Iranian citizen,” the spokesman further said.

Nouri was arrested upon arrival at the Stockholm Airport in November 2019 and was immediately imprisoned on what are seen as bogus charges.

He has been held in solitary confinement for over two years. Swedish prosecutors have requested the maximum penalty of life imprisonment for the former Iranian judiciary official, falsely accusing him of prisoner abuse in the 1980s.

The charges against Nouri stem from accusations leveled against him by MKO members. His accusers allege that he was involved in the execution and torture of members of MKO in 1988. Nouri has vehemently rejected the charges.

The MKO has been responsible for numerous assassinations and bombing attacks against top-ranking Iranian officials since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Out of the nearly 17,000 Iranians killed in terrorist attacks since the Islamic Revolution, about 12,000 have fallen victim to this group's acts of terror.

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