Five-Year Prison Sentence of Saeed Azizi, Iranian-Swedish Dual Citizen, Upheld by Appeals Court

The lawyer of Saeed Azizi, an Iranian-Swedish dual citizen, announced that the five-year prison sentence issued by Branch 26 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran has been "fully upheld and confirmed" by the appeals court. Reza Shafagha, Azizi's lawyer, reported on Tuesday, March 18, the confirmation of his client's sentence by Branch 36 of the Tehran Appeals Court. This lawyer also referred to Saeed Azizi as an "innocent Iranian-Swedish citizen" and emphasized that seeing items such as the appeals court ruling has made him feel that "all hope has been lost at the beginning of the new year." Previously, Reza Shafagha had spoken about the deteriorating health of this prisoner and his inability to endure imprisonment. According to his lawyer, Saeed Azizi is suffering from prostate cancer and had fallen down stairs in prison, worsening his physical condition. Saeed Azizi, a 60-year-old Iranian-Swedish citizen, was arrested by government agents at his home in Tehran after traveling to Iran on November 12 this year. According to previous reports, Branch 26 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran sentenced this dual citizen to five years in prison on charges of "collusion and conspiracy to commit a crime," a ruling that the appeals court has confirmed. Additionally, at least two other Swedish citizens, including Johan Flodros, an employee of the European Union, are currently imprisoned in Iran. Earlier, the Swedish Foreign Ministry issued a statement regarding the arrest of an Iranian-Swedish man "without any specific reason" in late 2023 and demanded the immediate release of detained Swedish citizens in Iran. Furthermore, the Swedish government summoned the Iranian chargé d'affaires and called for the release of Swedish citizens. Previously, Human Rights Watch had stated in a statement regarding Johan Flodros that "his prolonged detention follows the pattern of arbitrary detentions of dual citizens and foreign nationals, effectively hostages, used as bargaining chips in the Islamic Republic's diplomatic disputes." Experts say that the Islamic Republic detains foreign citizens, especially those with dual nationality, using false charges to use them as political bargaining tools, effectively taking these citizens hostage. Following the arrest of Hamid Nouri, a former deputy warden of Gohardasht Prison, in Sweden and his trial for involvement in the mass execution and torture of political prisoners in the 1980s, relations between Tehran and Stockholm have soured.