 "Iran and Sweden agree to a prisoner swap freeing war crimes criminal Hamid Nouri")
Iran and Sweden agreed Saturday to a prisoner swap, freeing Hamid Nouri, convicted of war crimes by Sweden over mass 1988 executions in the Islamic Republic, in exchange for two men held by Tehran.
On July 14, 2022, Hamid Nouri was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Stockholm Regional Court for his involvement in “war crimes” and “murder” related to the 1988 executions in Iran. This sentence is equivalent to 25 years under Swedish law.
Iran released Johan Floderus, a Swede who had been working for the European Union’s diplomatic corps, as well as a man identified as Saeed Azizi by Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. They “are now on a plane home to Sweden, and will soon be reunited with their families,” Kristersson wrote on the social platform X.
Oman mediated the swap, the state-run Oman News Agency reported. Iranian state television reported Nouri was already freed and would be heading back to Tehran.
Nouri had been arrested on November 6, 2019, at Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport. Throughout his trial, Nouri dismissed the allegations, describing the events and charges as “fictional, imaginary, and fabricated.”
Later, the Stockholm Court of Appeals decided in December 2023 to uphold the life sentence. Nouri, who had been a former jailor, was found guilty of participating in the mass executions of political prisoners in Iran during 1988. Beyond the life sentence, the court also ordered Nouri to compensate the families of the victims and the surviving political prisoners. Additionally, he faces expulsion from Sweden after serving his prison term.