Swedish diplomat recalls darkest moments in Iran prison

France24

July4th2024

Released in mid-June, Floderus and another Swedish citizen were part of a prisoner exchange that saw a former prison official return to Iran.

When asked how he has been since gaining his freedom, Floderus smiled while choosing his words carefully.

“I’m doing well. My family has done everything to give me the sort of soft landing that I think I really needed upon my return,” he told AFP.

Floderus was arrested in Iran as he was about to return home from a holiday with his friends in April 2022.

“I was about to text my friends and tell them: ‘look I’ve arrived at the airport but something is going on.’ But that’s when somebody came and took the phone away and said that’s not allowed,” he said.

The EU diplomat was then taken by car to the north of Tehran, where he recognised Evin prison.

“I had to take off my clothes and put on the prison uniform, sign some documents,” he said.

‘Confusion, anxiety, despair’

He was blindfolded and led through corridors of the huge prison.

“I couldn’t see where I was going, I could only see my feet really on the floor.”

After two or three days alone in a cell, he was brought before what others called a judge.

“I was relieved to go there because I thought: ‘finally this mistake will be resolved’,” he said.

“But on the contrary, this man told me that I was accused of espionage against the Islamic Republic of Iran and that’s the moment where everything kind of went black.”

At that moment, Floderus said he felt faint.

It was then that the judge noticed and told him not to worry.

“I was just going to be their guest for two or three days but I would remain there for the next two years and two months,” Floderus said.

The diplomat spent the first two months in “confusion, anxiety, despair” in solitary confinement before being moved to a group cell.

There, Floderus and the other prisoners were able to speak freely with one another.

“When I told them about what had happened to me, who I was, they told me, but Johan, you’re a hostage,” he said.

After a month with the other detainees, the Swede was taken to solitary confinement — where he spent six months.

It was then that Floderus began looking for ways to survive.

“But as time went by and the months passed in solitary confinement, I realised that I would not survive if I let myself be affected by bad news or the absence of news,” he said.

Floderus said he then tried to live with something other than hope.

“I discovered a strength within me that was more constant and that I could always rely on and that wouldn’t leave me even in the darkest moments.”

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