World
Confirmed: Swedish national held prisoner in Iran is EU diplomat
“We will not stop” until Johan Floderus is freed, Josep Borell said on Tuesday, confirming the identity of the Swedish national held prisoner in Iran.
The 33-year-old Swedish was an employee of the European External Action Service (EEAS), the bloc’s foreign policy chief said.
Johan Floderus was detained in April 2022 by Iranian authorities and has been held for more than 500 days in the Evin prison, in Teheran.
The details of the case were first revealed by the New York Times on Monday morning. In its initial reaction, the European Commission refused to identify the person, simply indicating the case involved a Swedish national who was being used as a “pawn for political reasons” by the Iranian government.
But on Tuesday, Josep Borrell, who oversees the EEAS, spoke on the record and confirmed the information revealed by the newspaper, saying Floderus had been “illegally detained.”
“I want to stress that, I personally, all my team, at all levels, the European institutions in close coordination with the Swedish authorities, which have the first responsibility of consular protection, and with his family, have been pushing Iranian authorities to release him,” Borell told journalist while attending a ministerial meeting in Cádiz, Spain.
“Every time we had a diplomatic meeting, at all levels, we had put the issue on the table. Relentlessly, we have been working for the freedom of Mr Floderus. And we will continue doing that in close contact with the family, respecting their will, and for sure with the Swedish government.”
“This is very much in our agenda, in our heart, and we will not stop until Floderus (is) freed,” he added.
According to the New York Times, Floderus had previously visited Iran in his capacity as an EU official but was on a private tourist trip with friends the day he was detained.
Floderus was then charged with “espionage,” an accusation that people familiar with the Swede strongly denied.
In a statement to the newspaper, the family said: “We, Johan’s family, are deeply worried and in despair. Johan was suddenly and without reason deprived of his liberty on a vacation trip and has been in an Iranian prison for more than 500 days.”
The New York Times report follows a series of episodes in which Iran has imprisoned dual citizens on widely contested criminal charges and agreed to release them only after obtaining certain concessions from Western governments.
In late May, Olivier Vandecasteele, a Belgian humanitarian worker who had been sentenced to 40 years in a Teheran prison, was released as part of a prisoner swap between Belgium and Iran. The United Nations described Vandecasteele’s detention and treatment as a “flagrant violation of international law.”
World
Man in India regains consciousness before his cremation on funeral pyre: reports
A 25-year-old man who was declared dead and about to be cremated in India this week was found to be still alive by witnesses, according to reports.
Rohitash Kumar, 25, who was deaf and mute, was declared dead at a hospital in the state of Rajasthan in the northwestern part of India without a post-mortem examination, according to The Times of India.
Once it was clear Kumar was alive at his cremation on Thursday afternoon, his family reportedly took him back to a hospital where he died early Friday morning.
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Three doctors involved in declaring Kumar dead at the Bhagwan Das Khetan district hospital have since been suspended, the newspaper reported.
Kumar had suffered an epileptic seizure and was declared dead after he flatlined while doctors were performing CPR on him, the Daily Mail reported, citing the AFP news service.
10 NEWBORN BABIES DIE IN INDIA AFTER FIRE RIPS THROUGH HOSPITAL NEONATAL UNIT
“The situation was nothing short of a miracle,” a witness at the funeral pyre told local news outlet ETV Bharat. “We all were in shock. He was declared dead, but there he was, breathing and alive.”
Ramavtar Meena, a government official in Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu district, called the incident “serious negligence.”
“Action will be taken against those responsible. The working style of the doctors will also be thoroughly investigated,” he said.
Meena added that a committee had been formed to investigate the incident.
World
Thousands march across Europe protesting violence against women
Violence against women and girls remains largely unreported due to the impunity, silence, stigma and shame surrounding it.
Thousands marched across France and Italy protesting violence against women on Saturday – two days before the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
Those demonstrating protested all forms of violence against women – whether it be sexual, physical, psychological and economic.
The United Nations designated 25 November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. The goal is to raise awareness of the violence women are subjected to and the reality that the scale and nature of the issue is often hidden.
Activists demonstrated partially naked in Rome, hooded in balaclavas to replicate the gesture of Iranian student Ahoo Daryaei, who stripped in front of a university in Tehran to protest the country’s regime.
In France, demonstrations were planned in dozens of cities like Paris, Marseille and Lille.
More than 400 organisations reportedly called for demonstrations across the country amidst widespread shock caused by the Pelicot mass rape trial.
Violence against women and girls remains one of the most prevalent and pervasive human rights violations in the world, according to the United Nations. Globally, almost one in three women have been subjected to physical and/or sexual violence at least once in their life.
For at least 51,100 women in 2023, the cycle of gender-based violence ended with their murder by partners or family members. That means a woman was killed every ten minutes.
World
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