Two Swedish nationals detained in Iran since the beginning of 2020 have been sentenced to five and eight years in prison for drug trafficking, a spokesman for the Judicial Authority, Massoud Sétayechi, announced on Tuesday August 30.
"
Simon Kasper Brown, a Swedish citizen, was sentenced to five years in prison and fined for carrying more than 21,000 pills of tramadol
", an opioid painkiller, according to Massoud Sétayechi.
"
Stephen Kevin Gilbert, another citizen of this country was sentenced to eight years in prison, 60 lashes and a fine, for being in possession of 9.8 kg of opium juice
", he said. added.
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Iran is one of the main transport routes for opium or heroin from neighboring Afghanistan, the world's largest producer of these drugs.
The two Swedes were arrested in January 2020 at Tehran International Airport as they were about to leave the country, Massoud Sétayechi said.
The trial of the two men, accused of belonging to an "
international drug trafficking network
", opened in September 2021 before the 15th chamber of the Tehran Revolutionary Court.
On Tuesday, the Judicial Authority clarified that the two convicted "
had nothing to do
" with another Swede, accused of "
espionage
" at the end of July and detained by the Islamic Republic, who did not reveal his identity.
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This arrest came against a backdrop of strained relations between Tehran and Stockholm.
In mid-July, Hamid Noury, former head of an Iranian prison, was sentenced to life imprisonment in Sweden for "
aggravated crimes against international law
" and "
murders
".
Iran called the verdict "
political
" and called for his release.