Nouri solitary confinement smashes world record, lawyers say

May 20, 2023 - 20:57

TEHRAN- Hamid Nouri’s lawyers have challenged his trial procedure and how he is being treated in jail, noting the time that the 62-year-old man is being held in solitary confinement is too long and is considered a “world record.”

Nouri has been unlawfully jailed in Sweden for more than three years.

According to the Iranian Judiciary-affiliated Mizan news agency, Nouri’s attorney Hanna Larsson stated that her client has now spent 3.5 years in solitary confinement in Swedish detention centers. 

She also called the lengthy period a “record” in the world and the way his jailers treat him as “very heinous.”

Based on Larsson’s remarks, Nouri’s family members have been unable to visit him.

Additionally, she put the blame on the Swedish jail officials for failing to set up visits despite having “enough time to do so.”

Also, she said, Nouri has recently been denied access to his laptop and iPad by the jail authorities. 

“He is entitled to have in-person and virtual meetings, but no meetings are held," the lawyer added.

Larsson criticized the Swedish government for denying Nouri access to important documents that are necessary for his legal defense in court and rejected the prosecutor’s claim that the records had been given to her client as “not true.”

“These documents were of great value to our client and now we cannot defend him as we should and be ready for defense,” lawyer stressed.

The issue of Nouri’s poor eyesight was also brought up by Larsson, who said that her client had repeatedly asked the prison officials to arrange an appointment for him to see an ophthalmologist.

Larsson’s comments were corroborated by Nouri’s other attorney, Thomas Bodstrom, who also criticized the way his client’s trial was conducted.

Nouri, a former member of the Iranian judiciary, was detained and put in jail as soon as he arrived in Sweden in November 2019. 

On the basis of false accusations made by the terrorist Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO), he was placed on trial.

Nouri has strongly denied the terrorist group’s accusations that he participated in the murder and torture of MKO members in 1988.

Nouri was given a life sentence by a Swedish court back in July of last year. Based on the MKO claims, the court—which Iran first said was illegal—convicted Nouri of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Since his unauthorized arrest, the 62-year-old has been held in solitary prison. On May 29, he will be questioned by the appeals court again.

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