NARRATIVE – Three French nationals are arbitrarily detained in Baku, where French Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher, expected for COP29, has decided not to go amid diplomatic tensions at their peak.
“These two weeks are crucial for Théo. We're going to do everything we can. If it goes well, that’s a good sign, otherwise…”. These words from Charlie Clerc were collected by Le Figaro the day after the opening of COP29, launched on Monday in Azerbaijan. His brother Théo Clerc is one of three French people struggling with Azerbaijani justice, against a backdrop of tensions between Paris and Baku. Thus he received with bitterness the backpedaling of the French Minister of Ecological Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher, who gave up going to the climate summit. The speech given by Azeri President Ilham Aliyev the day before did not pass. The autocrat denounced the colonial history of France and the «crimes» of “President Macron’s regime” in its overseas territories.
Théo's family was counting on the COP29 spotlight to increase pressure on the Azeri authorities in favor of the detainee. This 38-year-old artist was arrested…
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