Azizi: Hope Made Me Believe in Freedom

Saeed Azizi is back home in Sweden again after being released from an Iranian prison. Now he tells Expressen about his time in captivity.

» Updated: July 16 2024

» Published: June 16 2024

Azizi: Hope Made Me Believe in Freedom
Photo: Tom Samuelsson/Regeringskansliet

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Saeed Azizi is back home in Sweden again after being released from an Iranian prison.

He is now telling Expressen about his time in captivity.

It was a real hell, but hope made me believe in freedom, says Saeed Azizi to the newspaper.

He is now resting with his family at home outside Stockholm.

Saeed Azizi was arrested in November last year in Iran. After the arrest, he was taken to the isolation unit at the notorious Evin Prison, where he spent three months. Saeed Azizi describes it as hell on earth.

When he was brought before a court, he was accused of collaborating with a hostile country against Iran.

My trial lasted three minutes. I didn't even get to defend myself.

One day before his journey back to Sweden, Saeed Azizi received a visit from Iranian officials who asked him to get ready to move, but they didn't tell him where.

Later, he was driven to the airport, where he met Johan Floderus. The two flew to Oman, where the plane that would take them to Sweden was waiting. At 21.20 on Saturday, they landed at Arlanda.

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By TTEnglish edition by Sweden Herald, adapted for local and international readers

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