Iran seeks death sentence for Swedish EU diplomat accused of spying

A prosecutor in Iran has called for a Swedish European Union diplomat to be sentenced to death for espionage.

The trial against 33-year-old Johan Floderus ended Sunday.

During the final negotiations, the prosecutor accused the Swede of "very extensive intelligence cooperation with the Zionist occupation regime," meaning Israel, according to the Mizan Online website.

The prosecutor also claimed that Floderus was guilty of "corruption on earth” and therefore should be sentenced to Iran's most severe punishment: death.

Floderus and his lawyer now have a week to respond to the request for the death penalty.

In a statement to Anadolu news agency, the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Sweden's charge d'affaires was present when the trial in Iran against Floderus resumed yesterday.

The embassy is in close contact with his lawyer and is also monitoring the case very closely.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has regular contact with his family.

"There is no basis whatsoever to detain Floderus, let alone bring him before a court. Both Sweden and the EU have presented this with great clarity to representatives of Iran," it said.

Sweden's Foreign Minister, Tobias Billstrom, "will comment when they have given a verdict," Anna Erhart, his press secretary, told Anadolu.

The news has caused great concern among Floderus's family members, who followed the trial from Sweden. "It is clear that everyone in the family is very badly affected," said his sister Tove Floderus to Swedish Radio on Monday.

"It comes as a crack in one's reality to hear the death penalty in the same sentence as my brother's name. I try to think that it is just words and games for the galleries, but it is worrying," she said.

"Everyone in the family deals with anxiety in different ways and they try to support each other."

She said it is difficult to say how her brother is doing but he seems to be composed and positive despite everything.

She said if the death penalty is invoked, "it would be terrible and completely heartbreaking. I really hope that's not how it will be."

The last time they had contact with Johan was on Saturday according to Swedish radio.

Johan Floderus has been detained at Iran's Evin prison since April 2022, when he was arrested at Tehran airport during a holiday trip to Iran.

Both the Swedish government and the EU have called the accusations false and demanded his release.

The charges against Floderus as well as a death sentence against Swedish-Iranian doctor Ahmedreza Djalali have been linked to a life sentence handed down in Sweden against Hamid Noury, an Iranian official.

In 2022, the Stockholm District Court found Noury guilty of murder and serious crimes against international law.

Assessors believe that the Swedes could be used in a prisoner exchange with Sweden.

A date for when the verdict will be announced has not yet been set.