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The 33-year-old Swedish EU official Johan Floderus was arrested at Tehran’s international airport in April 2022, on his way home after a holiday trip. He was accused of espionage and threatened with the death penalty.
After 790 days in captivity, over 250 of which were in solitary confinement, he is back in Sweden.
The prisoner exchange, in which Hamid Noury, sentenced to life imprisonment for serious violations of international law, went in the opposite direction, has sparked criticism. Partly from relatives of Noury’s victims, partly from those who believe that the Swedish government is sending the signal that Iran’s hostage diplomacy works.
“I understand that anger. I regret and I am extremely sorry that those who have fallen victim to Hamid Noury’s misdeeds have lost the restitution they feel they received through the verdict,” he says in an interview with TT.
He also faces criticism. Despite there being no travel advisory from the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, some believe that someone in his position should have known better.
“If it hadn’t been me, another Swedish citizen would have been taken hostage,” says Johan Floderus.
(July 3)