“It is for her sake that we should not crack”: relatives of Frenchwoman Cecile Kohler detained in Iran break silence

She is one of seven Frenchmen detained in Iran, and her relatives are speaking for the first time this Sunday. Cecile Kohler, a teacher and trade unionist, has been stuck there since last May. “Are we sure she’s alive, even if we don’t know where they’re holding her?” Their interest is not in killing her, and she is certainly treated better than Iranian prisoners on a material level, but such treatment is inhumane,” argues her father, Pascal Coler, in Breaking News from Alsace (DNA) .

Her family, who lives in Soulz on the Haut-Rhin, has had no contact with her since her arrest, and no French consular official has been able to see her, the DNA test explains. An “unbearable” situation for the parents, Pascal and Mireille, who are worried about Cecile’s “psychological condition”. The support committee will be set up on Tuesday in Strasbourg, Saint Cecil’s day. Noemi Kohler, her sister, will be press secretary.

Cécile Kohler, 38, was arrested along with another Frenchman, Jacques Paris, as she traveled to Iran, a country she had long dreamed of visiting. His relatives decided to go public after Tehran broadcast a video presented as a “confession” in early October, according to which Cécile Coler worked for the French intelligence services. Paris condemned the “unworthy staging” and for the first time mentioned “state hostages”.

“Loyalty Incarnate”

Family, friends and colleagues also want to talk about Cecile Kohler. A trade unionist in charge of international relations at Force Ouvrière, this set of modern letters decided to continue teaching in order to “stay in touch with the field, its colleagues and students,” sums up DNA.

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Cecile, according to her relatives, is “the epitome of devotion”. The teacher, “always ready for classes that are considered difficult,” describes Marin, a colleague and friend. “A man with great joie de vivre” for Anthony, a former roommate. Saliha, service agent at Les Pierres Vives High School in Carrières-sur-Seine in Yvelines, where Cécile Kohler works, testifies to a “not haughty” teacher who “gave the same importance to us service agents as to the professors” .

This week, the International Labor Organization (ILO) called for his release “without delay” as well as for the release of Jacques Paris so that they can benefit from “immediate consular assistance”. In addition, in early November, the Quai d’Orsay urged French people passing through Iran to “leave the country as soon as possible, given the risk of arbitrary detention to which they are exposed.”