TEHRAN- The Foreign Ministry of Iran has fervently criticized as “fundamentally unacceptable” a Swedish court’s verdict against Hamid Nouri, a former Iranian judicial officer who is being held unlawfully in Sweden.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry’s spokesman, Nasser Kanaani, said on Tuesday that “the Islamic Republic of Iran regards the primary and appeals court’s verdict concerning Iranian citizen Hamid Nouri to be fundamentally unacceptable and strongly condemns it.”

“It is regrettable that the Swedish court, disregarding the standards of a fair trial, has moved to issue such a destructive verdict,” he added. 

The Stockholm Court of Appeals upheld a controversial life sentence for 62-year-old Nouri, who was detained in 2019 on baseless claims of human rights violations and his supposed participation in the deaths of Iranian detainees in the 1980s.

Kanaani emphasized that by making such a decision, Sweden has sided with terrorist groups opposed to Iran, endangering Tehran-Stockholm relations.

He noted, “Unfortunately, Sweden’s judicial system, by siding with the terrorist groups that have been engaged in the most heinous terrorist and inhumane acts against the people of Iran, Iraq, and even Europe for decades, has endangered the interests of the two nations as well as the old, historical and deep-rooted relations between the two countries.”

“In light of its inherent duties in defending the rights of its citizens, the Islamic Republic of Iran has used all legal capacities and facilities to free the said citizen from the grips of injustice and will continue its efforts until the full fulfillment of the rights of its citizens,” Kanaani added.

The spokesman further stated that the Islamic Republic reserves the right to take “appropriate” measures in this respect.

In November 2019, Nouri was detained while arriving at Stockholm Airport and was subsequently taken into custody.

He was put on trial on baseless accusations made by elements of the terrorist organization Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO), which has publicly boasted of carrying out terrorist attacks against Iranian officials and citizens who are thought to be government supporters.

Nouri has vehemently denied the terrorist group’s unfounded allegations that he was complicit in the 1988 death and torture of MKO members.

Nouri was given a life sentence by a Swedish court in July of last year. The court, which Iran first denounced as being illegitimate, found Nouri guilty of “war crimes and crimes against humanity” based solely on testimony from MKO terrorists who were living in exile around Europe.

Since his erroneous arrest, the former Iranian judiciary officer has been kept in solitary prison.

Back in May, Hamid Nouri’s lawyers 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.”

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 had 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.