Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, arrested on December 19 in Iran for “breaking the laws” of the Islamic Republic, has been released and is in the process of being repatriated.
This release is the result of “intense work through diplomatic and intelligence channels”, underlines the Italian government. Prime Minister “Giorgia Meloni expresses her gratitude to all those who contributed to making Cecilia’s return possible, allowing her to reunite with her family and colleagues.” The journalist was arrested in Tehran during a professional stay on a journalistic visa, but the Iranian authorities have never communicated the precise reasons for this arrest.
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Cecilia Sala, 29, has since been in a cell in Evin prison in Tehran. The journalist works for Chora Media, a site publishing podcasts, as well as for the daily The Sheet. The young woman, who was initially due to return to Italy on December 20, was arrested a few days after the arrests in the United States and Italy of two Iranians suspected by the American justice system of transferring sensitive technologies.
Isolation “could be fatal to Cécile Kohler”
The Frenchwoman Cécile Kohler, detained since May 2022, arouses the concern of the Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner, Narges Mohammadi. Questioned on France Inter radio, Narges Mohammadi, who was granted temporary leave from prison for medical reasons at the beginning of December, expressed “her concern for the state of health of Cécile”, detained in a high security unit. from Evin Prison, Tehran.
“I was able to ask questions of prisoners who spent a few days in cells with her. They say that physically, she is extremely weakened, and I am very worried about her,” declared the 52-year-old activist, whose comments were translated into French. “Isolation is terrible conditions, real torture. There is no walk, when I was there we only had three outings in the courtyard, of only 20 minutes, per week, the door to his cell is closed 24 hours a day except to go to the infirmary,” said Narges Mohammadi.
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“Finding yourself three years like her, without being able to move, without being able to get some fresh air, that could be fatal for her. Finding yourself in isolation for so long is inconceivable, unbearable,” she warned. Cécile Kohler, 40, and her companion Jacques Paris were arrested in May 2022 and are accused of “espionage” by the Iranian authorities. The couple are detained separately at the high-security Evin prison and their families have little news during phone calls that last only a few minutes, according to their relatives.
Three French people detained in Iran
Tehran said in November that the couple was being held “in good conditions and in good health”. A third Frenchman, named Olivier but whose last name has not been made public, has also been detained in Iran since 2022. Paris describes these prisoners as “state hostages”. Narges Mohammadi for her part has not been returned to prison, but her legal status remains uncertain and she is likely to be arrested again “at any time”, according to her family’s lawyer. The activist, famous for her commitment against the death penalty and for women’s rights, warned that she would fight whatever the consequences. “I continue and I will continue,” she said.
