How is Théo Clerc really doing? This is the question that burns the lips of his lawyers. “There is serious concern regarding his physical and psychological state: his brother, who visited him in May, noted that he was the victim of impressive nervous tics, memory lapses, and that he was very thin” , explain Me Margot Fontaine and Me Camille Souleil-Balducci, in a press release published this Thursday.
“Every day that passes threatens the psychological and physical integrity of Théo Clerc,” they believe, while he “must pay for drinking water and basic necessities.” “Food must be brought by third parties”, “hot water is only accessible once a week, and he is not allowed to mail”, they further detail.
Aged 38, Théo Clerc was sentenced on September 10 to three years of detention for graffiti in the metro while his two co-defendants received a simple fine for the same acts. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs has repeatedly protested against this detention, which it considers “arbitrary” and an “unfair” sentence.
Tensions between France and Azerbaijan have been exacerbated since Baku regained control of the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave following a lightning offensive in September 2023, at the cost of the exodus of more than 100,000 Armenians. Baku criticizes Paris' support for Armenia while French authorities accuse Azerbaijan of interference in its overseas territories, allegations rejected by Baku.
President Ilham Aliev reiterated his attacks on Wednesday, denouncing France's colonial history and the “crimes” of “President Macron's regime” in its overseas territories, including New Caledonia, during a speech at COP29 which has been held in Baku since Monday.
In retaliation, the French Minister for Ecological Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, canceled her participation in the conference. The lawyers fear that these new tensions will worsen their client's case.
This conference “must be an opportunity, both for the French interministerial delegation on site (…) and for the French representative within the European Parliament delegation (…) to address the situation of Théo Clerc, in particular with Yalchin Rafiyev, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs,” they write. Contacted, the Quai d'Orsay did not immediately react.
