He has been detained in Iran for over a year. Frenchman Benjamin Brière will be tried for ” spying “, announced his lawyer, Sunday, May 30. At the end of the investigation, the prosecution confirmed the prosecution for ” spying “ and “Propaganda against the system” policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, told Agence France-Presse Me Saïd Dehghan, lawyer for this thirty-something detained in Machhad (north-east of the country). “The prosecutor prepares the indictment and sends it to the Revolutionary Court for the continuation of the judicial process”, he added.
The prisoner’s sister recently published, in Point, an open letter calling on Emmanuel Macron to intervene for the release of Banjamin Brière. Espionage, in the most serious cases, in Iran carries the death penalty, and propaganda against the system, from three months to one year in prison.
Arrested in May 2020
According to his lawyer, Mr. Brière is accused of espionage because of “Photographs of prohibited areas” taken using a recreational drone in a natural park in Iran. According to his sister, Blandine Brière, he was arrested while crossing Iran as a tourist, during a long trip that began in 2018.
The propaganda accusations are said to be linked to posts the Frenchman allegedly posted on social media, asking why the Islamic veil is ” obligatory “ for women in Iran while it is “Optional” in other Muslim countries.
According to Me Dehghan, the Frenchman arrested in May 2020 was the subject of two other charges not yet revealed: “Corruption on earth”, one of the most serious charges in the Iranian penal code, punishable by death, and consumption of alcohol, punishable by flogging. However, these two charges were not upheld at the end of the investigation.
“Instrument of negotiations”
For Blandine Brière, who describes her brother as “A tourist thirsty for discovery and adventure”, he “It is obvious that the Iranian lawsuits are not the reasons for this interminable wait. “” The stake is elsewhere, my brother finds himself being an instrument of negotiations which exceeds him. A young Frenchman finds himself at the center of conflicts between countries, which obviously escapes him ”, she wrote to Emmanuel Macron for “Implore” to remedy this situation. According to her, her brother is detained “In very worrying conditions”, who has only been able to speak to his relatives four times in a year.
Iran retains more than a dozen Western passport holders, most of them dual nationals, which NGOs condemn as a hostage-taking policy designed to obtain concessions from foreign powers. Their supporters say they are innocent and victims of a political game that does not concern them.
Iran is, in fact, subject to significant international sanctions, particularly American ones. In 2018, former US President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled the United States out of the international Iran nuclear deal, concluded three years earlier between Iran and the international community.
Negotiations have been taking place since April in Vienna to try to revive the agreement. The goal is to reintegrate the United States and bring Iran back to its commitments in exchange for a lifting of American sanctions. During these negotiations, the Iranian side made it known that it was still open to exchanges of detainees.