Iran accuses Swedish EU diplomat held in Tehran jail for greater than 600 days of spying for Israel | EUROtoday

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Iran has accused a Swedish European Union diplomat held in jail of spying for Israel and committing “corruption on Earth” – a criminal offense that carries the loss of life penalty.

Johan Floderus, 33, was arrested on 17 April 2022 on the airport in Tehran whereas returning to Iran from a visit. He has spent over 600 days in Tehran’s Evin jail.

Iran on Sunday stated it has begun the trial of the Swedish nationwide employed by the EU for “having links with Israeli elements”, in accordance with a report by Mizanonline information web site, which is affiliated with the nation’s judiciary.

The prosecutors accused the Swede of gathering info for Israel within the framework of initiatives via American, Israeli, and European institutes that had been lively towards Iran.

The prosecutor claimed that Mr Floderus had traveled to Israel, labored with Swedish intelligence and transferred cash to Iran for initiatives geared toward dismantling the federal government.

Judge Iman Afshari was requested to prosecute Mr Floderus primarily based on articles of Iranian regulation that carry penalties from six months to capital punishment. The date of the following session shall be determined later, the decide stated.

The Swedish overseas ministry in a press release stated Mr Floderus “has been arbitrarily detained and every accusation and charge is false”.

“We have conveyed this clearly to Iran at different levels and times, the most recent being yesterday [Saturday],” it told Reuters.

Iran’s intelligence ministry in 2022 said its agents arrested a Swede for spying, without revealing the person’s identity. Tehran claimed the man had been in touch with several European and non-European suspects in Iran, and had visited Israel, before returning to Iran.

The arrest took place weeks after Sweden sentenced an Iranian national, Hamid Nouri, to life in prison in July last year over the mass execution of dissidents in Tehran in 1988. The sentencing led to Iran recalling its ambassador from Sweden.

Mizanonline published photos of Mr Floderus in handcuffs appearing before judges in a pale blue prison uniform on Sunday.

His father, Matts, previously told The Guardian in an interview that the family were on tenterhooks as they waited to learn of the charges.

“We have reason to believe the trial will come soon, that it will be in December,” he stated. “He told us he didn’t care what the verdict would be because it would mean the same thing whatever they decided to charge him with. It is just theatre, just make-believe.

“We are deeply worried and say this over and over again. He has been arbitrarily detained. He has done nothing wrong and should be freed and allowed to leave the country.”

Iran in May executed an Iranian-Swedish twin nationwide, Farajollah Cha’ab, also called Habib Asyoud, accused of masterminding a 2018 assault on a army parade that killed a minimum of 25 folks.