The release of Hamid Noury raises questions on several levels, says Anna Johansson, who emphasizes that Amnesty has long warned that Iran repeatedly imprisons foreign citizens to achieve its goals.
– The risk is, of course, because this is clearly working, that it will continue.
Prisoner exchange between Sweden and Iran – Johan Floderus and Saeed Azizi are released for Hamid Noury
Here are Saeed Azizi and Johan Floderus on Swedish soil
Floderus and Azizi in Sweden – the government held a press conference
The second is that serious justice must not take its course.
– Hamid Noury is convicted of very serious crimes. That he is now not allowed to serve his sentence for the crimes he actually committed. I don’t think that does justice to the many victims of these 1988 prison massacres for which he was convicted.
Kristersson’s answer
During a press conference late on Saturday, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M) emphasized that it was not an easy trade-off.
– Sometimes you have to do difficult things. Protecting Swedish lives, for me as prime minister, is above all else, he said.
Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer (M) underlined the difficulty of pardoning Hamid Noury, but that the government’s priority was to bring Floderus and Azizi home alive.
– Under normal circumstances, it is a matter of course that Hamid Noury should have served his entire prison sentence.
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See when Johan Floderus and Saeed Azizi come home to Sweden. Photo: Tom Samuelsson / Government Offices
“Could go even further”
According to Foreign Minister Tobias Billström (M), the fact that Ahmadreza Djalali, who is also imprisoned in Iran, was not released at the same time is because Iran refused to negotiate his release. Despite that, Anna Johansson believes that more should have been done.
– Of course, I have not been part of these negotiations, so it is difficult to judge. But at the same time I can state that Sweden, if one is now to use prisoner exchange as a method to deal with Swedish citizens who are imprisoned, has had an extremely strong card.
According to Johansson, Iran has long been keen to have Hamid Noury released from Sweden.
– Here I think that they might have been able to go one step further to get Ahmadreza Djalali home.