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Swedish PM Demands Immediate Release of EU Employee Jailed in Iran

Swedish EU employee Johan Floderus attends a court session in Tehran, Iran, December 10, 2023. Amir-abbas Ghasemi/MIZAN/WANA (West Asia News Agency) Handout via REUTERS Acquire Licensing Rights
Swedish EU employee Johan Floderus attends a court session in Tehran, Iran, December 10, 2023. Amir-abbas Ghasemi/MIZAN/WANA (West Asia News Agency) Handout via REUTERS Acquire Licensing Rights
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Swedish PM Demands Immediate Release of EU Employee Jailed in Iran

Swedish EU employee Johan Floderus attends a court session in Tehran, Iran, December 10, 2023. Amir-abbas Ghasemi/MIZAN/WANA (West Asia News Agency) Handout via REUTERS Acquire Licensing Rights
Swedish EU employee Johan Floderus attends a court session in Tehran, Iran, December 10, 2023. Amir-abbas Ghasemi/MIZAN/WANA (West Asia News Agency) Handout via REUTERS Acquire Licensing Rights

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Monday demanded the immediate release of Swedish European Union employee Johan Floderus from prison in Iran.

Floderus was arrested in Iran in 2022. Iran said on Sunday it had begun a trial of the Swedish national, having charged him with spying for Israel and "corruption on earth," a crime that carries the death penalty.

"He is entirely arbitrarily detained," Kristersson told a press conference. "We demand his immediate release."

Relations between Sweden and Iran have been tense since 2019, when Sweden arrested a former Iranian official, Hamid Noury, on suspicion of torture and executions of political prisoners in Iran in the 1980s, Reuters reported.

A Swedish district court in 2022 found Noury guilty of the charges. Noury appealed the case, and an appeals court ruling is expected next week.

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Spain Says Social Media Platforms Such as Musk's X Must be Neutral

'X' logo is seen on the top of the headquarters of the messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter, in downtown San Francisco, California, U.S., July 30, 2023. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
'X' logo is seen on the top of the headquarters of the messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter, in downtown San Francisco, California, U.S., July 30, 2023. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
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Spain Says Social Media Platforms Such as Musk's X Must be Neutral

'X' logo is seen on the top of the headquarters of the messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter, in downtown San Francisco, California, U.S., July 30, 2023. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
'X' logo is seen on the top of the headquarters of the messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter, in downtown San Francisco, California, U.S., July 30, 2023. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo

Social media platforms should be neutral and not interfere in other nations' political affairs, Spain's government spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Pilar Alegria was answering a question about the high-profile spat between billionaire Elon Musk, who owns the social messaging platform X, and European leaders such as Britain's Keir Starmer and France's Emmanuel Macron, according to Reuters.

"We believe that these platforms must always act with absolute neutrality and above all, without interfering," she told a news conference.

A European Commission spokesperson said on Monday that while Musk was free to express his views on European politics, X must adhere to rules in the EU's Digital Services Act, under which large online platforms have to analyse and mitigate potential risks for electoral processes and civic discourse.