Four French people and many other Europeans are being held hostage in Iran for “absurd charges”, which the Quai d’Orsay denounces on the occasion of the two years of detention of the couple Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, this Tuesday, May 7.
While Cécile Kohler and her partner Jacques Paris have been detained for two years to the day in Iran, France on Tuesday, May 7, castigated the “state hostage policy” and the “permanent blackmail” of the Iranian authorities, and reiterated its demand for the release of the four French people imprisoned in Iran.
“Ms. Cécile Kohler and Mr. Jacques Paris were arbitrarily arrested by the Islamic Republic of Iran two years ago today, and our two other compatriots, including Mr. Louis Arnaud, more than a year ago and “France condemns this state hostage policy and this permanent blackmail by the Iranian authorities,” the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
In Iran, state television broadcasts what it presents as spying “confessions” of two French people
“We hold the Iranian authorities responsible for their fate and their treatment,” adds the French ministry: “France reiterates the demand for their immediate and unconditional release.” Paris “denounces the Islamic Republic’s odious practice of forced and public confessions, as well as the inhuman and undignified conditions of detention inflicted on our compatriots”, underlines the press release from the Quai d’Orsay.
“Absurd charges brought against them”
On May 7, 2022, Cécile Kohler, 39, a modern literature teacher, was arrested during a trip to Iran with her companion Jacques Paris, a 69-year-old former mathematics teacher. Official reason for arrest: “Espionage”. In September 2023, Iranian justice announced that the investigation against them had been completed, paving the way for a possible trial.
Two other French people are detained in Iran: Louis Arnaud and Olivier. The first, a consultant in detention for a year and a half, was sentenced in November to five years in prison for propaganda and endangering the security of the Iranian state. His conviction was deemed “unacceptable” by Paris. The second, Olivier, whose identity has not been revealed, has been imprisoned since October 2022. In addition to four French people, there are dozens of foreigners to be detained, often having dual nationality.
“The mobilization of the French authorities to obtain the release of our four compatriots remains total. We are also in permanent contact with their families and loved ones, whom we support in this ordeal,” affirms the Quai d’Orsay. “We also have a thought for all the other European hostages in prison in Iran, innocent of the absurd charges brought against them in facade trials.”
Sequestration of Mathis, 8 years old, in 2011: his father indicted for murder
With AFP
