Iran: Detained French couple soon decided on their fate

Tehran’s judicial body said on Tuesday that two Frenchmen detained in Iran since May and charged with espionage will soon know their fate. Cécile Kohler, a teacher and trade unionist, and her companion Jacques Paris were arrested in early May while sightseeing in Iran and, according to French trade union sources, “have been held in solitary confinement ever since.”

In early October, Iranian state television aired what was presented as a “confession” of two Frenchmen as espionage. Paris condemned the “unworthy staging” and for the first time mentioned “state hostages”.

“The two arrested French spies are still in custody and the case is at the final decision stage,” said Massoud Setayeshi, a spokesman for the judiciary, quoted by the legal agency Mizan. He did not name a specific date and did not report on a possible trial.

In total, according to the French authorities, seven French people are currently in custody in Iran: in addition to Cecile Coler and Jacques Paris, among them is the Franco-Iranian researcher Fariba Adelha, who was arrested in June 2019, then sentenced to five years in prison. for violating national security, and Benjamin Brière, arrested in May 2020 and sentenced to eight years and eight months in prison for espionage.

VIDEO. Scene of panic in the Tehran subway after the intervention of the regime police

In early November, Paris urged Frenchmen traveling through Iran “to leave the country as soon as possible, given the risk of arbitrary detention to which they are exposed.”