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Iran Prisoner Says Sweden Left Him Behind in Jail

A view of the entrance to Evin prison in Tehran, Iran (Reuters)
A view of the entrance to Evin prison in Tehran, Iran (Reuters)
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Iran Prisoner Says Sweden Left Him Behind in Jail

A view of the entrance to Evin prison in Tehran, Iran (Reuters)
A view of the entrance to Evin prison in Tehran, Iran (Reuters)

A Swedish-Iranian dual national has accused Sweden's prime minister of leaving him out of a prisoner swap in a call from the Iranian jail where he remains incarcerated, daily Expressen reported on Tuesday.

The two countries carried out a prisoner exchange on Saturday, with Sweden freeing a former Iranian official convicted for his role in a mass execution in the 1980s while Iran released two Swedes being held there.

Ahmadreza Djalali, an emergency medicine doctor, remains in Tehran's Evin prison after he was arrested in 2016 while on an academic visit to Iran.

Djalali was sentenced to death in 2022 on charges of spying for Israel, and Iran's judiciary in the same year ruled out a prisoner swap for him.

"You chose to leave me behind, with a high risk of being executed," Djalali said in a telephone conversation with his wife Vida Mehrannia, who recorded it and shared it with the newspaper. His comments were addressed to Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, AFP reported.

"I am speaking to you from Evin prison. It's a terrible cave, where I've spent eight years and two months, almost 3,000 days of my life," Expressen quoted him as saying.

"I'm very happy that the other two were released. One Iranian-Swedish, the other Swedish. But it is clearly a case of discrimination," he added.

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said on Saturday that Iran had refused to even consider Djalali a Swedish citizen after he received citizenship in the Nordic country, where he lived and worked prior to his arrest, while in Iranian prison.

Billstrom said in an emailed comment to Reuters on Tuesday that Sweden had not given up on Djalali and would continue efforts to have him freed.

"The government and the security services did everything possible to ensure that Djalali would come home together with Floderus and Azizi," Billstrom said, adding that he was due to have a previously scheduled meeting with Djalali's wife.

"As the prime minister has said, he has a great understanding of the despair Djalali and his family feel. They have our deepest sympathy ... For the sake of Djalali's own safety, we cannot say more than what we have already said."

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Public Mourns 35 Killed in Attack at Sports Complex in Southern Chinese City

A man offers flowers outside the "Zhuhai People's Fitness Plaza" where a man rammed his car into people exercising at the sports center, in Zhuhai in southern China's Guangdong province on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (AP)
A man offers flowers outside the "Zhuhai People's Fitness Plaza" where a man rammed his car into people exercising at the sports center, in Zhuhai in southern China's Guangdong province on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (AP)
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Public Mourns 35 Killed in Attack at Sports Complex in Southern Chinese City

A man offers flowers outside the "Zhuhai People's Fitness Plaza" where a man rammed his car into people exercising at the sports center, in Zhuhai in southern China's Guangdong province on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (AP)
A man offers flowers outside the "Zhuhai People's Fitness Plaza" where a man rammed his car into people exercising at the sports center, in Zhuhai in southern China's Guangdong province on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (AP)

Members of the public paid their respects Wednesday to people killed by a driver who rammed into people exercising a sports complex in southern China, as the country mourned, but little information was available about the suspect or the victims in the attack.

The crash Monday night in Zhuhai killed 35 people and severely injured 43 others, and the driver was detained as he was trying to escape. Authorities said the 62-year-old man with the surname Fan was upset over his divorce settlement.

Members of the public had started bringing flowers in honor of the victims Tuesday night and continued into Wednesday.

There was a light police presence in the morning at the Zhuhai sports complex, which was closed until further notice, but the number of officers increased as the morning passed.

While police allowed people to leave bouquets of flowers in memory of the dead just outside the entrance of the sports complex, volunteers then quickly moved the flowers inside to the sports center.

“May there be no thugs in heaven,” said the message on one bouquet. “Good deeds will be rewarded and evil deeds will be punished.”

The attack occurred on the eve of the Zhuhai Airshow, an aviation exhibition sponsored by the People's Liberation Army that is held every two years.

China authorities often make extra efforts to tightly control information around major or sensitive events like the airshow. Censors also take extra care around major catastrophes or violence, often censoring eyewitness accounts. Clear information on the death and injury toll was not available for almost 24 hours after the attack.

Videos were quickly censored inside China, though they circulated outside the Great Firewall. They were posted by Teacher Li, an artist turned dissident who runs a X account with 1.7 million followers that posts crowdsourced videos about news in China.

Articles from Chinese media featuring interviews with survivors were quickly taken down Monday and Tuesday. The news that trended about the attack was largely based on official statements from authorities.

Police said their preliminary investigation found Fan was dissatisfied with the split of financial assets in his divorce. Beyond that description, further information was not available on his divorce or alleged motive.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping called for the “strict” punishment of the perpetrator according to law, in a statement Tuesday evening.

He also called on all local governments “to strengthen prevention and control of risks at the source, strictly prevent extreme cases from occurring, and to resolve conflicts and disputes in a timely manner,” according to the official Xinhua news agency.