Iran Summons Swedish Charge D’Affaires over Prison Term for Nouri
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Sweden’s charge d’affaires in Tehran in protest at a Swedish court’s ruling against former Iranian official Hamid Nouri.
The Swedish charge d’affaires was summoned by the Foreign Ministry on Wednesday in protest at the life sentence handed down to Hamid Nouri over his alleged role in the execution of some MKO members in Iran in the 1980s.
The director general of the Foreign Ministry’s Western Europe Department strongly slammed the move against the Iranian citizen.
“It is unfortunate that the false claims by individuals and a group that have committed the most abhorrent terrorist and anti-human acts against the people in Iran, Iraq and Europe for decades are invoked in a court with minimum standards of fair proceedings, and poisonous and destructive movements are allowed to abuse the legal mechanisms in order to follow their political goals,” Majid Nili Ahmadabadi said.
“The Swedish court stepped in the wrong direction during the proceeding of the fabricated and fake case by leveling false accusations, without taking the judicial proceeding criteria into consideration,” the Iranian official added.
“Pursuing the goals and objectives of anti-Iran terrorist and separatist groups and a group that has the blood of over 17,000 Iranians on its hands once again confirms the double standards by those who claim to be advocates of human rights,” he told the Swedish diplomat.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran is determined to restore the breached rights of its citizen until his complete release from the clutches of injustice and it reserves the right to take appropriate measures,” Nili Ahmadabadi noted.
The Swedish charge d’affaires said he would inform Stockholm of the matter as soon as possible.
The verdict against Nouri comes four years after he was arrested at a Stockholm airport based on complaints filed by anti-Iranian groups in Sweden for his alleged role in the execution of a number of MKO members in Iran in the 1980s.
He was put on trial on allegations leveled against him by the MKO, which claimed Nouri was involved in the execution and torture of the group's members in 1988.
Nouri and his defense team have vehemently denied the charges while the Iranian authorities have repeatedly said that the case has been based on political motives.
