Iran sentences two Swedes to prison terms for drugs
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran sentenced two Swedish nationals to multi-year prison terms for drug smuggling, the judiciary announced Tuesday, the latest in a series of cases raising tensions between the Islamic republic and the Nordic nation.
Iran’s tough judiciary sentenced Swedish citizen Simon Kasper Brown to five years in prison and fined about $34,000 for allegedly trafficking 9.7 kilograms (about 22 pounds) of the banned painkiller Tramadol. Security forces scooped Brown up from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport and confiscated his stash of the mild narcotic pills, said Masoud Setayeshi, a spokesman for the judiciary.
Tehran also sentenced Swedish citizen Stephen Kevin Gilbert to eight years in prison and ordered him to pay a $500 fine. Gilbert was arrested at the airport in January 2020 for smuggling 9.8 kilograms of opium-based drugs into the country, the judiciary said.
Brown and Gilbert are the latest Swedes to land in an Iranian prison as relations between the two countries deteriorate. Earlier this year, Iran jailed two Swedish visitors in separate incidents on much-criticized espionage charges. Another Swedish citizen, a respected 50-year-old doctor whom Iran accuses of spying for Israel, faces the death penalty.
The cases come amid a milestone in Sweden to prosecute a former Iranian official accused of committing atrocities has sparked outrage back in Tehran. A court in Stockholm sentenced Hamid Nouri to life in prison for his alleged war crimes, prompting Iran to recall its ambassador.
Iran has jailed at least a dozen dual citizens in recent years as Tehran negotiates money and influence with the West. Most of them are being held on disputed charges of espionage.
Iran’s law also provides for harsh penalties for drug offenses. Those accused of drug possession, trafficking or human trafficking account for approximately 73% of executions in the country.
