European Union official held in Iran prison in brutal conditions, family says

Ten months with no communication with his family. Three hundred days in solitary confinement. A cell that’s fully lit around the clock.

These are some of the conditions faced by Johan Floderus, a European Union official from Sweden who was arrested in Iran in April last year and has been held hostage since, his family revealed Sunday.

Last week The New York Times was the first to report on his incarceration at Tehran’s infamous Evin prison, after EU and Swedish authorities kept it under wraps for more than 500 days.

Now the family has gone public, sharing details of Floderus’ detainment to raise awareness and rally support.

On Sunday, Floderus, who rose in the EU civil service to become a member of the diplomatic corps, turned 33 in Iran’s custody, in what appears to be another case of hostage-taking to exert pressure for the release of Iranian prisoners or other concessions from the West.

Floderus’ family said Sunday in a statement that it was starting a public campaign to bring him home, following in the footsteps of families of other foreigners or dual Iranian citizens whom the government has detained in recent years.

The family said Floderus’ rights were being flagrantly violated. He is permitted only 3 1/2 hours of fresh air a week, they said, is unduly limited in receiving letters from relatives or sending correspondence and has been granted just a handful of visits by Swedish diplomats in Tehran since he was arrested.

Floderus’ case is unusual because of his professional background, which makes him a high-value prisoner in what experts describe as an energetic “hostage diplomacy” advanced by Iran.

Before joining the European Union’s diplomatic corps, Floderus traveled to Iran on official bloc business for humanitarian projects, his family said Sunday. He had been on a tourist visit in April last year when he was arrested at the Tehran airport on his way out of the country.

In the sole video call Floderus has been allowed so far, last month, he made a “desperate plea” to his family to step up their efforts for his release, the statement said, adding that Floderus is innocent of any wrongdoing.

The Iranian authorities, in a statement in July 2022, announced that they had arrested a Swedish citizen for espionage and claimed that his previous travel in the country showed he was there on nefarious business.