The former Social Democratic politician Abdollah Ashkan Ekhtiari, also known as Ashkan Ekman Ekhtiari, is serving a life sentence for the murder of his wife. He has now applied for leave from prison to travel to Iran and participate in the country’s war against the Jewish state of Israel.

Ekhtiari is imprisoned at Salberga Correctional Facility after being convicted for shooting his wife to death in January 2020, in the family residence in Graninge, Sollefteå municipality. According to the court, he shot the woman in the head with a hunting rifle while she was sleeping. The motive was that his wife wanted a divorce.

The Ångermanland District Court sentenced him in the summer of 2020 to life imprisonment for murder. He was also convicted of illegal access to data after having unlawfully accessed his wife’s mobile phone.

As he is an Iranian citizen and lacks Swedish citizenship, the court also decided on lifetime deportation. The verdict was later upheld by the Court of Appeal for Lower Norrland.

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Before the murder, Ekhtiari had several political assignments for the Social Democrats in Kiruna and was also involved with the Social Democrat-affiliated educational association ABF. He had also served as a lay judge in court.

Applied for Leave to Fight Against the Jews

In May this year, Ekhtiari requested a special leave from the Swedish Prison and Probation Service to travel home to Iran and fight against Israel. According to documents highlighted by the news agency Siren, he stated antisemitic motives—wanting to participate in his home country’s defense against what he describes as “the imperialist Zionist illegal war.”

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When the Prison and Probation Service rejected the application, he appealed the decision to the Administrative Court. The court documents summarize his argument as follows:

“I am sitting unlawfully and unjustly in a Swedish prison. My homeland is at war and needs every soldier. There are therefore reasons to allow me to return to my country. The illegal, unjust, inhuman, and barbaric prison sentence against me should cease. I should be allowed to return to my country now that there are reasons and a need for it.”

Throughout the entire legal process, Ekhtiari has denied committing murder. He has also previously maintained that the sentence is erroneous.

Administrative Court Says No

The Administrative Court, however, sided with the Prison and Probation Service and rejected the appeal. The court refers, among other things, to the risk that the man sentenced to life would not return to Sweden if granted leave.

READ MORE: Social Democrat Ashkhan shot his wife dead – denies murder

“There is a significant risk that Ashkan Ekman Ekhtiari will commit crimes, avoid serving his sentence, or otherwise misbehave should the leave be granted,” the court writes in its decision.

Thus, the former Social Democrat is denied leave and will remain in the correctional facility to continue serving his life sentence. Only after that can—and must—he return to his home country and may then register for service for the Islamist regime if it is still at war with the outside world.