Iranian to appeal Swedish life sentence in executions case

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A former Iranian official sentenced in Sweden to life in prison for his part in a mass execution of political prisoners in Iran will appeal against his conviction to the Supreme Court, his lawyer said on Thursday.

Earlier this week, a Swedish appeals court upheld the guilty verdict and life sentence for murder and serious crimes against international law for former prison official Hamid Noury.

"We will appeal to the Supreme Court," Noury's lawyer Thomas Bodstrom told Reuters. "If we are going after people who worked as administrators or prison guards several decades ago, then there are any number of Iranians who risk life imprisonment if they set foot in Sweden."

Noury is the only person so far to face trial over the killings at the Gohardasht prison in Karaj, Iran, in 1988 that targeted members of the Iranian People's Mujahideen, which was fighting in parts of Iran, as well as other political dissidents.

Under Swedish law, courts can try Swedish citizens and other nationals for crimes against international law committed abroad.

Bodstrom said his client, who was arrested in Sweden in 2019, was disappointed with the verdict and highly critical of the Swedish court system.

The appeals court's decision this week was greeted with cheers by several hundred protesters who had gathered outside the court but has caused a serious rift between Iran and Sweden.

On Wednesday an Iranian court resumed the trial of a Swedish European Union employee arrested in 2022 while on holiday in the country.

Johan Floderus is charged with spying for Israel and "corruption on Earth", a crime that carries the death penalty.

Sweden has requested his immediate release, calling the detention arbitrary.

(Reporting by Johan Ahlander; Editing by Nick Macfie)