A French national detained in Iran since May has appeared in court on charges of” spying ” and of “Propaganda against the system” Islamic Republic policy, lawyer Saeid Dehghan revealed on Monday (March 15th). The latter also wrote on his Twitter account that the man in question, of whom we only knew his first name, was called Benjamin Brière.
Lawyer for Franco-Iranian researcher Fariba Adelkhah, under house arrest in Tehran, Mr. Dehghan suggested that this trial was drawing to a close. However, he could not be contacted immediately by Agence France-Presse to confirm that he is indeed dealing with the defense of the Frenchman.
“Photographs of prohibited areas”
The avocado’s tweet is accompanied by a photo of a young man against the backdrop of typical Iranian barren mountain scenery and another showing what appears to be the same person jumping next to a camper van stopped on a salt lake.
“Accusation of espionage [pour] photographs of areas prohibited by this French tourist », writes the lawyer in a telegraphic style. Mr. Brière is also accused of “Propaganda” to get ” ask the question [sur les réseaux sociaux] to know why the Islamic veil is “compulsory” in the Islamic Republic [d’Iran] but “optional” in other Muslim countries ”, continues Mr. Dehghan.
The Quai d’Orsay confirmed on February 24 the detention of a Frenchman in Iran, arrested in May 2020 and detained since without explanation. Mr. Dehghan then wrote on Twitter that this French was named Benjamin, without revealing his last name. He faces “Contradictory and false accusations”, added the lawyer.
Arrests of foreigners and binationals are on the rise
35 years old, according to Point, Mr. Brière was arrested by Iranian security forces in a desert area on the border between Iran and Turkmenistan. Left to tour Iran, the young man was detained at the end of February in Vakilabad prison in Mashhad, Iran’s second city, in the northeast of the country, according to information from the Point. According to the French Foreign Ministry, Mr. Brière “Enjoys consular protection”, that is to say the procedure from which any French national detained abroad benefits.
The arrests of foreigners in Iran, in particular binationals, often accused of espionage, have increased since the unilateral withdrawal of the United States in 2018 from the international Iran nuclear agreement and the reinstatement of harsh American sanctions against Tehran.
In recent months, Iran has conducted several exchanges of foreign prisoners, including researchers, with countries holding Iranian nationals. Specialist in Shiism and post-revolutionary Iran at Sciences Po Paris, Mme Adelkhah was arrested in early June 2019 and sentenced to five years in prison for “ collusion with a view to undermining national security ” and “Propaganda against the system” Iranian politics. The researcher, who rejects all these accusations, left Evin prison on October 3 and has since been under house arrest in Tehran, under the control of an electronic bracelet.
French researcher Roland Marchal, arrested at the same time as Mr.me Adelkhah, was released in March 2020 as part of an exchange with an Iranian detained in France and whose extradition the United States was asking for, according to Tehran. According to various observers, the fate of Mr. Brière and Mr.me Adelkhah could be linked to that of Assadollah Assadi, an Iranian diplomat sentenced to twenty years in prison on February 4 in Belgium for planning an attack on a rally of opponents of the Tehran regime in France. Belgian justice announced on March 8 that Mr. Assadi had appealed against his conviction.
