STOCKHOLM: Iranian-Swedish Ahmadreza Djalali, an academic who has been on death row in Iran for eight years, attacked Sweden’s prime minister after being excluded from a prisoner swap, in an audio recording obtained by AFP Wednesday.
Two Swedes were released on Saturday in exchange for Hamid Noury, a 63-year-old Iranian former prisons official handed a life sentence in Sweden in 2022 for his role in mass killings in Iranian jails in 1988.
The two Swedes were EU diplomat Johan Floderus, held in Iran since April 2022 accused of espionage, and Iranian-Swede Saeed Azizi, arrested in November.
But Djalali, on death row in Iran since 2017 after having been convicted of espionage, missed out on the swap.
“Mr. Prime Minister, you decided to leave me behind under huge risk of being executed” Jalali said in an audio recording shared with AFP by his wife Vida Mehrannia.
“I talk to you from Evin prison, inside a horrible cave where I have spent eight years, two months, almost 3,000 days of my life,” Djalali said.
Directing his message to Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Djalali asked: “Why not me?“
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom has stressed that Stockholm tried to secure his release, but Tehran refused to discuss his case as it does not recognize dual nationality.
He was granted Swedish citizenship while in jail in Iran.
“It’s just excuses,” Mehrannia told AFP. Her husband’s release “wasn’t important to them, they didn’t want to challenge Iran,” she added.
“I’m so angry, I’m at a loss for words.”
In his message, Djalali dared Kristersson to meet his son and family in front of tv cameras and tell him “why you left his father behind.
“My son was four when I was detained and he is now 12 and a half years old. He spent two thirds of his life without a father,” Djalali said, noting his son had been born in Sweden and grown up among Swedish children.
As a result of the publishing of the recording, Djalali had been denied making calls to Sweden, Mehrannia told AFP.
“But I think it was worth it,” she said. “It was important.”
Amnesty International has called on Sweden’s government to “do everything” to ensure Djalali can return.
Academic blasts Swedish PM after missing out on prisoner swap
https://arab.news/4k42j
Academic blasts Swedish PM after missing out on prisoner swap
- “Mr. Prime Minister, you decided to leave me behind under huge risk of being executed” Djalali said in an audio recording
- “I talk to you from Evin prison, inside a horrible cave where I have spent eight years, two months, almost 3,000 days of my life“
EU says Ukraine to spend bulk of 90-bn-euro loan on military needs
- The European Commission said it was pushing for Kyiv to receive the first disbursement in April
- Von der Leyen said the funds will be used to buy weapons mainly from Ukraine and European nations
BRUSSELS: Two-thirds of a vital 90 billion euros ($105 billion) EU loan for Ukraine will go to cover Kyiv’s military apparatus with the rest earmarked for general budget support, Brussels said Wednesday.
Agreed by EU member states in December after months of diplomatic wrangling, the loan offers cash-strapped Ukraine a desperately needed lifeline as Russia’s invasion of its neighbor grinds toward its fifth year.
The European Commission said it was pushing for Kyiv to receive the first disbursement in April, as it provided details of the facility at a press conference in Brussels.
“With this support, we make sure that Ukraine can on one hand bolster its defense on the battlefield and strengthen its defense capabilities — so, its military needs — and on the other hand keep the state and basic services running,” EU chief Ursula von der Leyen told reporters.
Von der Leyen said the funds will be used to buy weapons mainly from Ukraine and European nations — something France and others have long said is key to bolster the EU’s defense industry and ease dependence on the United States.
But if the necessary equipment were not to be readily available in Europe, it would be occasionally possible for Kyiv to shop outside the continent, the commission president added.
“For us it is a lot of money. These are billions and billions that are being invested. And these investments should have a return on investment in creating jobs, in creating research and development,” said von der Leyen.
The loan, which is to cover two-thirds of Ukraine’s financial needs for the next two years, has to be approved by the European Parliament and member states before the money can start to be paid out.
It was agreed last month by European Union leaders who settled on a loan backed by the bloc’s common budget, after plans to tap frozen Russian central bank assets fell by the wayside.
The EU has said Ukraine would only need to pay back the money once Moscow coughs up for the damages it has wrought.
Brussels will cover interest costs, expected to hover around three billion euros per year, through the EU budget.
