One Day After Nouri's Sentence Confirmation in Sweden; Judiciary Announces Third Court Session for Flodros on Charges of 'Corruption on Earth'

One day after the announcement of the Swedish Court of Appeal's ruling, which upheld the life sentence of Hamid Nouri, accused of involvement in the mass execution of political prisoners in the 1980s, the spokesperson for the Iranian judiciary announced the holding of the third court session for Johan Flodros, a Swedish citizen imprisoned in Iran, on charges of 'corruption on earth'. The Iranian government arrested Johan Flodros, an employee of the European Union's diplomatic service, in April of this year. Masoud Setayesh, the spokesperson for the Iranian judiciary, announced on Wednesday, November 8, that the case of this Swedish citizen had been sent to court for indictment. However, in his press conference today, the judiciary spokesperson announced the third hearing of Flodros's case in Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court on December 18, just one day before the announcement of the Swedish Court of Appeal's ruling regarding Hamid Nouri's case. According to Setayesh, the Swedish chargé d'affaires was also present at the court session. This judicial official of the Islamic Republic refrained from explicitly stating the charges against the imprisoned Swedish citizen, citing 'legal restrictions', but in his explanations, he referred to the charges mentioned in the indictment as related to Articles 286 and 610 of the Islamic Penal Code and Article 6 of the 'Law to Combat Hostile Actions of the Zionist Regime Against Peace and Security'. Meanwhile, after the first court session on December 10, domestic media had reported that the 'charges' against Flodros included intelligence cooperation with Israel. According to Iranian media reports, the prosecutor's representative in the first court session accused Flodros of 'corruption on earth' and 'extensive actions against national security', requesting the death penalty for him. Looking at the legal articles mentioned by the judiciary spokesperson, it becomes clear that Flodros, an employee of the European Union's diplomatic service, is facing charges such as 'corruption on earth', 'conspiracy', for committing 'crimes against internal or external security', and 'intelligence cooperation or espionage' in favor of Israel, which under the laws of the Islamic Republic could carry the death penalty. Since the news of Flodros's arrest was published after several hundred days, analysts have linked this arrest and case-making to the Islamic Republic's efforts to bring back Hamid Nouri. The proceedings of this Swedish citizen's case also indicate that the Iranian authorities are pursuing this same path. Johan Flodros was arrested on April 17, 2022, while he was on a recreational trip to Iran with his friends, on charges of 'espionage'. Flodros's family has stated that he was arrested 'without any valid reason or legal process' upon his return at the airport. On December 8, Human Rights Watch issued a statement marking the six-hundredth day of this Swedish diplomat's detention by the Islamic Republic, calling for his immediate release. According to this organization, while 'the Swedish government and the European Union were quietly working behind the scenes for Flodros's release, his case was initially not publicly disclosed. However, the family of this Swedish citizen broke the silence in September and called for increased efforts to free their son.' Human rights groups and Western governments say the Islamic Republic is trying to gain concessions from other countries through the detention of individuals on security charges, which are essentially baseless. The Iranian government denies the political nature of these arrests. Relations between Stockholm and Tehran have soured since 2019 when Sweden arrested Hamid Nouri for his role in the mass execution and torture of political prisoners in the 1980s. After several court sessions, Nouri was sentenced to life imprisonment last year. Ladan Bazargan: The confirmation of Hamid Nouri's sentence means the end of the era of impunity for the officials of the Islamic Republic.