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From: TT
Published:
February 1 | Photo: Hossein Salmanzadeh / TT
Both the UN and the EU have demanded the release of Ahmadreza Djalali and various human rights organizations have become involved in his case. Stock Photography.
Intensive diplomatic work is underway to get Iran to stop the death penalty against the Swedish-Iranian doctor and researcher Ahmadreza Djalali.
– Iranian prisoners are often used as a bargaining chip in major power games, says Iranian expert Rouzbeh Parsi.
This week, Foreign Minister Ann Linde (S) contacted Iran’s Foreign Minister in an attempt to stop the execution of the death sentence against the Swedish-Iranian KI investigator Ahmadreza Djalali.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, British-Australian scholar Kylie Moore-Gilbert, who was jailed in Iran, was released on charges of refusing to spy on the Israeli Mossad. She was released in exchange for three Iranian prisoners in Thailand, suspected of planning a bomb attack in Bangkok in 2012. According to Israel, the act was to be directed at its diplomats in the country.
– Prisoner exchanges with Iran are common. Especially between the United States and Iran, there are several examples, says Rouzbeh Parsi, head of the Middle East program at the Foreign Policy Institute.
A major prisoner swap took place in 2015 in connection with the conclusion of the international nuclear deal with Iran. But even under the Trump administration of the United States, which broke the agreement and reintroduced tougher sanctions, there have been exchanges. A year ago, an American student accused of spying was released, in exchange for an Iranian investigator accused of violating sanctions against the country.
– There are still people that both sides want to see betrayed. It’s not sold out yet, Parsi says.
It becomes a bargaining chip
From the United States, these are often Iranians accused of espionage, industrial espionage or sanctions violations.
– There is a battery of accusations that are used with more or less good reasons.
The fact that Iran manages to arrest and convict spies from time to time cannot be ruled out, Parsi notes.
But there is no doubt that many of those who have been captured are probably not spies. They are taken as a bargaining chip, to get exchanges. Even money.
It is primarily the intelligence department of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard that is responsible for the accusations and arrests.
– They have a special position in Iran and they have a very wide margin of maneuver. They see it as their task to justify the paranoia of the Revolutionary Guard. That Iran is surrounded by enemies and that everyone who comes from outside is suspicious.
The judiciary in Iran is also not subject to the president-elect, as its supreme leader is appointed by the supreme spiritual leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
– The judicial procedures in these cases are usually strange and opaque. Defendants are subjected to pressure, sometimes torture, to force an admission, says Rouzbeh Parsi.
The Chirean Swede Ahmadreza Djalali was arrested in Iran during a trip to a conference in 2016 and sentenced to death the following year on charges of espionage.
The news the other day that Djalali would be transferred to the Karaj prison on the outskirts of Tehran pending the execution of the death sentence may be a way for the Revolutionary Guard to raise the temperature with the aim of putting pressure on Sweden against to an extradited person.
– Perhaps for Sweden to pressure the EU, says Parsi.
Timed executions
There are several examples of prisoners Iran wants to extradite, both in Sweden and in the EU.
In Belgium, an Iranian diplomat is on trial, suspected of having planned a bomb attack in France in 2018. This is the first time that an Iranian representative has been brought to justice in an EU country accused of terrorism. And in Sweden, a 58-year-old man is suspected of violating international law by participating in mass executions in Iran in 1988.
– The question is why Belgium or Sweden would agree to such an extradition. It is contrary to democratic legal principles, but a prisoner exchange by definition takes place outside of that legal framework, Parsi says.
Death row inmates like Djalali may also become pawns in an internal political game, as the Iranian judiciary ends up on a collision course with the more moderate presidency.
Historically, the judiciary has had an uncanny knack for timing executions when Iran’s foreign minister is abroad, Parsi says.
– In this way, they guarantee that the international conversations that take place are about criticism that the state they represent has just executed someone.
Hypothetically, there is a risk that the judiciary decides to carry out a death sentence to mark its position of power vis-à-vis its own government.
– This is a judiciary that can act inconsistently in all directions. They may also be bureaucratic and complete the process, or they may want something to shake their heads at to go through other concessions.
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