Iran: Swiss inmate who took own life had photographed 'military site'

Iran's judiciary said on Wednesday that a Swiss prisoner who took his own life this month had been jailed for "taking photos of a restricted military site".

On January 9, the judiciary said a Swiss national accused of spying had committed suicide in jail in the eastern city of Semnan.

No details were provided at the time about how he killed himself or the circumstances of his arrest.

A day later Switzerland confirmed the man's death, identifying him as a 64-year-old who had been visiting the country as a tourist.

He had been living in southern Africa and had not resided in Switzerland for nearly two decades, the Swiss authorities added, without identifying him.

On Wednesday, Iran's judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir provided more details, saying the man was born in Namibia, held Swiss citizenship, and had entered Iran last September or October.

"He entered our country as a tourist in (the Iranian month of) Mehr, driving a private car equipped with various technical devices," Jahangir said at a press conference.

"After travelling through several provinces, he reached Semnan province, where he was arrested for taking photographs of a restricted military site."

Jahangir added that the man had been accused of cooperating with "hostile governments".

On January 9, the prisoner managed to cut the electricity supply to his cell and committed suicide "outside the view of the (cell's) camera", Jahangir said.

His body was transferred to Tehran and handed over to the Swiss embassy for repatriation, the spokesman added.

Several Europeans remain detained in Iran, which has conducted multiple prisoner exchanges with Western governments in recent years, often facilitated by Oman or Qatar.

Among them are a French couple, Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, jailed in May 2022 on charges of espionage, a capital offence.