Call for release of Swedish prisoner on anniversary of Iran detention

The European Union’s Home Affairs Commissioner has made an appeal for the release of a Swedish employee of the EU’s diplomatic corps who was arrested in Iran two years ago.

Sweden says that 33-year-old Johan Floderus, who worked for the EU’s External Action Service, was arbitrarily detained.

Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said Floderus had asked to work for the EU delegation in Afghanistan before he was detained in Iran.

“We are dedicated to Johan’s case,” she said at an event in Brussels. “We are working closely with the Swedish authorities. We condemn Johan’s imprisonment and demand his immediate release. We condemn the conditions of his imprisonment and we demand he’s treated according to his right.”

In December, the Iranian judiciary’s news agency said Floderus had been accused of spying for Israel and “corruption on earth” – a crime that carries the death penalty in Iran.

His family deny the allegations, which Sweden’s Foreign Minister Tobias Billström has decried as “completely baseless and false”.

Floderus’ family say he was denied any contact with them during the first 10 months of his detention, and since then has been granted only a mere few consular visits.