Sweden needs to improve its support for the families of Swedish citizens imprisoned in dictatorships such as China, Eritrea and Iran. And stop distinguishing between foreign-born Swedes like Dawit Isaak, Ahmadreza Djalali or Gui Minai, and native Swedes like the Swedish diplomat Johan Floderus, arrested in Tehran last year.
Somehow, the past is always present. Once again, Sweden is trying to free a young Swedish diplomat, arrested and imprisoned in an authoritarian country. Johan Floderus was 31 years old when he was detained in Iran in early 2022 – almost the exact same age as Raoul Wallenberg at the time of his arrest by Soviet military counterintelligence nearly eight decades earlier, in Hungary, in 1945. Both men overestimated the protection offered by their Swedish diplomatic passports, not recognizing the risk that the Iranian and Soviet leaderships would blatantly ignore the legal protections enshrined in the principle of diplomatic immunity.
That is also where the similarities end. Johan Floderus was arrested after a private trip visiting friends in Iran, not while serving in his official capacity as an EU diplomat. In hindsight, it was undoubtedly a reckless decision to travel to a country ruled by one of the world most repressive regimes, at a time when the Iranian leadership was clearly “hostage hunting” – seeking leverage to force the release of Hamid Nouri, an Iranian official who was tried and sentenced last year in Sweden for his role in the mass execution and torture of political prisoners in 1988.
That said, there is absolutely nothing in Floderus’ actions that would remotely warrant his imprisonment under trumped up espionage charges. As is clear from the statements posted on the website created by his family and friends, Johan is being held in inhumane conditions that are tantamount to torture, in violation of his basic human rights and all legal norms. He has been held in solitary confinement for more than 300 days, has only limited access to fresh air and sunlight, and had to go on a hunger strike to be allowed contact with his family.
Not all Swedes are created equal
The website also states that “the Swedish Foreign Ministry has been working closely with Johan’s family, to secure consular visits, phone calls and meetings with Iranian authorities.”
This suggests a marked difference from how the Foreign Ministry’s consular office has dealt with the families of other Swedes wrongfully detained abroad. Esayas Isaak, the brother of Swedish-Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak, spent months and years trying to get the attention of Swedish diplomats after Dawit’s initial arrest in September 2001. This despite the fact that Dawit has been a Swedish citizen since 1992.
Swedish citizens imprisoned abroad, from left to right: Swedish diplomat Raoul G. Wallenberg (1912-?); Swedish-Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak; Swedish publisher Gui Minhai. Iranian-born Dr. Ahmadreza Djalali; Swedish EU diplomat Johan Floderus (Source: www.freejohanfloderus.org; photo taken during a rare video call in Iran’s Evin prison.)
When the new Ambassador to Eritrea Folke Lőfgren took up his post in February 2002, he was completely unaware of Dawit’s imprisonment – a full five months after Dawit’s detention.
After the arrest of Dr. Ahmadreza Djalali, an Iranian born scholar of disaster medicine residing in Sweden, in Tehran in 2016, his wife Vida Mehrannia heard nothing from Swedish government officials. Djalali had been attending a medical conference when he was detained. Only when she decided to make his disappearance public several months later, in February 2017, did she receive a phone call from the Swedish Foreign Ministry’s consular office. In contrast to their exchanges with the family of Johan Floderus, Swedish officials did not try to help her establish contact with her husband. Mehrannia says she does not receive regular briefings or updates from the consular section. When she asks for information, officials simply tell her that they are “following the case closely”, providing no further details. Repeatedly, top-Swedish government officials such as Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs Anne Linde and her successor, Tobias Billstrőm, ignored Mehrannia’s requests for a meeting until the requests were publicized or were about to be publicized in the Swedish media.
Until recently, more than seven years into Dr. Djalali’s ordeal, few among the Swedish public or the Swedish media were aware of “the other Swede” imprisoned in Iran. In 2018, Djalali became a Swedish citizen. He is currently under a death sentence issued in October 2017.
Djalali’s case is complicated by the fact that Iran does not recognize his Swedish citizenship, making it difficult for the Swedish government to advocate his case. The same holds true for Gui Minhai and Dawit Isaak. Both the Chinese and Eritrean regimes refuse to recognize them as Swedish citizens.
Twenty-two years after Dawit’s arrest, the Swedish officials have kept the case so quiet that few people know that he is now the world’s longest imprisoned journalist. While his public profile in Sweden is relatively strong, he remains virtually unknown internationally.
Several people with whom I discussed the Dawit Isaak case told me that it was irresponsible of Dawit to return to Eritrea. “He knew the political situation was unstable – he knew the risk. Why did he go there?” The answer is simple: Because, after a brutal war for independence, he wanted to make a contribution to his country’s economic and political development, and, in particular, to the strengthening of democratic institutions, such as a free press.
Others have questioned Swedish publisher Gui Minhai’s judgment for writing and selling books about the private lives of China’s political leaders. Meanwhile, Swedish diplomats failed to properly protect Gui when – shortly after his brief release from custody in 2018 – they chose to transport him by public train instead of diplomatic car from Shanghai to Beijing, on the way to a medical appointment.[1] To make matters worse, other Swedish officials such as Sven Hirdman, a former Ambassador to Russia, freely parroted rumors and defamatory information spread by Chinese state propaganda and waved away “the hysteria about a so-called bookseller.” [2]
Hopefully now all these questions and dismissive remarks can be laid to rest. Just like in the case of Johan Floderus, nothing can justify what has happened to Dawit Isaak, Gui Minhai or Ahmadreza Djalali. Journalism is not a crime, attending a medical conference is not illegal, nor is visiting friends. In 2011, Swedish journalists Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson were arrested in Ethiopia on charges of supporting a terrorist organization, when they were traveling and reporting without a proper permit in the country. Unlike the other imprisoned Swedes, they broke the law when they entered Ethiopia. Nevertheless, a little more than a year later, Swedish officials managed to gain their release, after difficult negotiations.
[1] See also https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/22/how-china-snatched-gui-minhai-train-beijing-bookseller-hong-kong.
[1] “Den så kallade bokhandlaren” som det blev “ett sådant hysteri om”. Rättssaken mot Anna Lindstedt. Se bilaga: “Förhör med Sven Hirdman” :Stockholms TR B 3911-19 Aktbil 9, Förundersökningsprotokoll 6 – (1) .“Jag har bara läst i tidningen de här påhoppen på Anna och den här hysteri om den så kallade bokhandlaren.”
Johan Gustafsson who was freed in after five years of being held hostage in Mali. Source: https://blankspot.se/johan-gustafsson-egna-ord-om-mannen-som-holl-honom-fangen/; Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson in 2011, shortly after their arrest in Ethiopia. Source: www.cpj.org.
A failure to communicate
While the Swedish government’s actions are most likely well intended, it clearly has a communication problem – and possibly a double standard involving foreign-born Swedes. This is not only inappropriate but extremely hurtful for the affected families. Additionally, while many aspects of official discussions cannot and should not be shared with the public, nothing stands in the way for Swedish diplomats to meet the families’ concerns with compassion and empathy, or to provide meaningful updates and briefings.
Just this past May, the Swedish Ambassador to Israel publicly apologized to Raoul Wallenberg’s family, noting that “ Sweden did not do enough to find out what happened to him, possibly sealing his fate. Sweden also left Wallenberg’s grieving family too alone, without the support they deserved.” Unfortunately, it appears that Swedish officials have drawn few effective lessons in the intervening years.
The families of Swedish citizens imprisoned abroad are left to cope with their trauma almost entirely alone. Few, if any, have received offers or referrals for emotional and psychological support. While the Swedish Foreign Ministry is obviously not a social agency, there is definitely room for improvement. The recently enacted changes in the U.S. official hostage policy – including the appointment of a U.S. Envoy for Hostage Affairs and the creation of a special family engagement team – show that it is possible to interact with families in a respectful and constructive way, without compromising classified information or the integrity of the ongoing investigation.
At the same time, the Swedish government needs to be clear and resolute in its public messaging: It should state unequivocally that any crime committed against a single Swedish citizen is a violation against all of Sweden. Any deal made to win the release of Johan Floderus must include Ahmadreza Djalali – and vice versa. Also, right now, the Swedish government should demand an unambiguous, verifiable proof of life for Dawit Isaak and Gui Minhai and accept nothing less.
In short, it would be good to see Swedish officials appear less timid and not merely reactive. Instead, Sweden should demonstrate a readiness to think outside the box, and to make sure they avail themselves of all options at their disposal. One of those options would be to invoke the Declaration Against Arbitrary Detention in State-to-State Relations to which Sweden is a signatory and which 72 countries have endorsed. Most importantly, they should unleash democracy’s hidden “superpower”. What makes democracies strong is the fact that they respect and protect the rights of every individual citizen, their greatest assets, whereas autocrats care only about themselves and their cronies. Such a stance will undoubtedly resonate widely, and galvanize public opinion, including in the civil societies of the world’s most heinous dictatorships. It will remind both them and the autocrats of what makes democracy so special, so desirable and yes – so powerful.
Susanne Berger is a Senior Fellow with the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, Montreal, Canada. She is the founder and coordinator of the Raoul Wallenberg Research Initiative (RWI-70).
This article, in the authorized translation above, is published here by permission of the author; the article originally appeared in Swedish under the title, ‘UD verkar göra skillnad på folk och folk’ (‘The Swedish Foreign Ministry appears to distinguish between Swede and “Swede”’) in Kvartal: https://kvartal.se/artiklar/ud-verkar-gora-skillnad-pa-folk-och-folk/
