A Swiss national who was arrested and accused of spying in Iran died by suicide in prison on Thursday, according to Mizan Online, a news agency affiliated with Iran’s judiciary.
“All evidence and documents from the place where this person was being held have been reviewed, and according to the documents, it is clear that he committed suicide,” the chief justice of Iran’s Semnan province said, as cited by Mizan Online.
This Swiss citizen’s case, whose identity has not been disclosed, “was being reviewed and processed” after he was arrested for espionage, according to Mizan Online.
Switzerland’s Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) has confirmed the death of a Swiss citizen in Iran.
“The Swiss Embassy in Tehran is in contact with the local authorities to clarify the circumstances of the death in an Iranian prison,” the FDFA said in a Thursday statement.
Semnan prison is about 190 kilometers (118 miles) east of Tehran, Iran’s capital.
The Swiss citizen, who was being held in Semnan prison, asked his cellmate on Thursday morning local time to provide him with food from the prison buffet, the chief justice said, as cited by Mizan Online.
“This prisoner took advantage of the time he was left alone in the cell,” and took his own life, the chief justice added.
“Prison officials immediately took action to save this person, but efforts to save him were unsuccessful,” according to the chief justice of Iran’s Semnan province.