Victor Dupont, doctoral student detained for almost a month in Tunisia, has returned to France, announces the Quai d'Orsay

The detention of this doctoral student was announced on October 31 by the director of his research laboratory at Aix-Marseille University.

The French doctoral student arrested on October 19 in Tunisia on the orders of the military justice system was released on Tuesday and returned to France on Friday, November 15, announced the spokesperson for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Victor Dupont “was released from prison on November 12 and returned to France today”declared Christophe Lemoine. “We are delighted that he can reunite with his loved ones”he added in response to a question on the national's situation during the weekly press briefing at the Quai d'Orsay.

The detention of this doctoral student was announced on October 31 by the director of his research laboratory at Aix-Marseille University. Aged 27, he was conducting research on the socio-professional trajectory of “people who may have been engaged at the time of the 2011 Revolution”the first popular uprising of the Arab Spring which put an end to the regime of Tunisian dictator Ben Ali, Vincent Geisser told AFP.

“It is not a political subject linked to dissidents or opponents, it is not a security subject, it is a classic sociological subject”he insisted. Victor Dupont had arrived in Tunisia around ten days before his arrest to conduct interviews. The reason for his arrest has not been officially communicated.