Iran and Sweden, with Oman’s mediation, exchanged several imprisoned citizens, resulting in the release of Hamid Nouri, a former deputy prosecutor, in exchange for the release of Johan Floderus and Saeed Azizi, two Swedish hostages held by Iran’s regime. Nouri was then sent to Tehran.
On Saturday, June 15, after his release and arrival in Iran, Hamid Nouri emphasized that he is “Hamid Abbasi,” a pseudonym he used as a deputy prosecutor at Gohardasht Prison during the executions of political prisoners in 1988.
A few hours earlier, the deputy for international affairs of the Iranian judiciary announced that Hamid Nouri, who had been tried and imprisoned in Sweden, was released and would return to Iran.
Kazem Gharibabadi stated on social media on Saturday that Nouri’s arrest in Sweden since 2019 was “illegal” and wrote that the former deputy prosecutor “will return to the country in a few hours.”
Simultaneously, Oman’s official news agency reported that, through the country’s mediation, Iran and Sweden had agreed to the mutual release of detained citizens in both countries.
The news agency announced that the prisoners of both countries “were transferred from Tehran and Stockholm to Muscat today to be returned.”
Minutes after the release of this report, the Swedish Prime Minister also announced that two imprisoned Swedish citizens in Iran had been released and would soon return to their families. These two Swedish citizens have been identified as Saeed Azizi and Johan Floderus.
Hamid Nouri, 62, was arrested on November 9, 2019, at Stockholm Airport upon arriving on a direct flight from Iran, based on complaints by human rights activists and opponents of the Iranian government to the Swedish police.
The Swedish prosecutor’s complaint against Hamid Nouri was based on evidence related to the secret massacre of several thousand political prisoners in the summer of 1988 in the prisons of the Iranian regime.
During the executions in the summer of 1988, Hamid Nouri, under the pseudonym “Hamid Abbasi,” was a deputy prosecutor at Gohardasht Prison. However, he and his lawyers had differing statements in court regarding this.
The Swedish prosecutor’s office charged Hamid Nouri based on the principle of universal jurisdiction, which examines crimes regardless of where they were committed. Swedish judicial authorities tried him on this basis.
In a case that took 93 sessions in the Swedish judiciary, at least 60 plaintiffs and witnesses and 12 experts in Islamic jurisprudence and international law spoke about Hamid Nouri’s case.
At the end of a lengthy trial, a court in Sweden sentenced him to life imprisonment in July 2022 for “gross violations of international humanitarian law and murder.”
An appeals court also upheld the life imprisonment sentence for Mr. Nouri on December 19.
In March 2024, the Supreme Court of Sweden announced that it would not review Hamid Nouri’s appeal against his life imprisonment sentence for participating in the massacre of political prisoners in the summer of 1988, thereby upholding his life sentence.
Reactions to Hamid Nouri’s Release
The National Council of Resistance of Iran, in a statement, called Hamid Nouri’s release “shameful and unjustifiable” and stated that this action reassures the Islamic Republic that it can return its agents through “hostage-taking.”
Kenneth Lewis, a lawyer who represented several plaintiffs in Hamid Nouri’s trial, said that his clients were not consulted before the release of the former Iranian deputy prosecutor and added that he was “shocked and devastated” by the release.
He told Reuters that this is a blatant insult to the entire judicial system and everyone who participated in the trial sessions.
The lawyer also noted that his clients sympathize with the Swedish government’s efforts to bring back its citizens but said that Hamid Nouri’s release was “completely disproportionate.”
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, also welcomed the release of the two Swedish citizens from “Iran’s unjust detention” and congratulated the Swedish government for its efforts to secure
