A senior judicial official has said that Hamid Nouri – the detained Iranian citizen – is a hostage in Sweden, not a prisoner, because there was no legal basis for his imprisonment.
Secretary of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights Kazem Gharibabadi made the remarks in an interview with IRNA published on Sunday. The case of Mr. Nouri is totally political, Gharibabadi said, adding that the Islamic Republic is seriously in protest to the process of dealing with the case as his rights are violated in Sweden. He went on to say that the Swedish government has no proof [to accuse Nouri] and it is only defending a terrorist group. Further, Gharibabadi who also serves as deputy chief of the Judiciary, advised Sweden to not sacrifice its national interests for the sake of such a group. In a related development, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said about a week ago, “This issue is one of our demands from the Swedish government, and we have always stated that arresting him was invalid and wrong.”