A Swedish- Iranian academic faces danger of execution in Iran after a court in Sweden affirmed a life sentence for a former Iranian jailer, Amnesty International says.

Ahmadreza Djalali was detained in 2016 while on a visit to Iran and accused of espionage in a non-transparent trial. Later he was sentenced to death.

Amnesty International issued a statement on Friday saying that Djalali “is at grave risk of imminent retaliatory execution.” Earlier this week, an appeals court in Sweden reaffirmed the life sentence of Hamid Nouri, a former prison official in Iran, who was convicted for his role in the killing of up to 5,000 prisoners in 1988.

“Amid a sharp spike in executions in Iran since November, mounting evidence indicates that Iranian authorities are threatening to carry out Ahmadreza Djalali’s execution in retaliation for their unmet demands to pervert the course of justice in Sweden,” Amnesty stated.

Djalali is widely considered as another hostage held by Iranian authorities to put pressure on Sweden and other Western countries.

Amnesty referred to the hostage taking in its statement, saying, “The international community, including Sweden, must immediately call on the Iranian authorities to halt any plans to execute Ahmadreza Djalali, end their shocking assault on the right to life, release him immediately, and put a moratorium on all executions. Iranian officials must be investigated for the crime of hostage-taking”.

This year, the United States allowed $6 of Iran’s funds to be unblocked in South Korea in exchange for the release of five American dual nationals held in Iran for years.